System and method of governing content presentation of multi-page electronic documents

ABSTRACT

A method of governing content presentation of multi-page electronic documents includes providing, to a publisher, a document file, which includes a program file, and a text file functionally associated with the program file. The publisher provides the text file to an author, who creates a version of a work of content based on the text file that is parsed into defined units of content. The author provides the units of content of the current version of the work of content to a user, to be viewed by the user on a display device in a sequence determined by the author. Creating the at least one version of the work of content includes enabling a primary secondary action key such that actuation, by the user, of the primary secondary action key advances a reading frame viewable by the user by a number of strings between main pages, plus one.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 17/170,580, which was filed on Feb. 8, 2021, which was relatedto, and claims priority from, U.S. Provisional Application for PatentNo. 62/976,224, which was filed on Feb. 13, 2020; which in turn is acontinuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/408,556, which was filed on May 10, 2019, which is related to, andclaims priority from, U.S. Provisional Application for Patent No.62/679,374, which was filed on Jun. 1, 2018, U.S. ProvisionalApplication for Patent No. 62/700,659, which was filed on Jul. 19, 2018,and U.S. Provisional Application for Patent No. 62/782,910, which wasfiled on Dec. 20, 2018; which in turn was a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/600,501, which was filed on May 19, 2017,which is related to, and claims priority from, U.S. ProvisionalApplication for Patent No. 62/338,816, which was filed on May 19, 2016,U.S. Provisional Application for Patent No. 62/428,673, which was filedon Dec. 1, 2016, and U.S. Provisional Application for Patent No.62/439,217, which was filed on Dec. 27, 2016; which in turn is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/965,855,which is related to, and claims priority from, U.S. ProvisionalApplication for Patent No. 62/090,095, which was filed on Dec. 10, 2014,and U.S. Provisional Application for Patent No. 62/211,112, which wasfiled on Aug. 28, 2015; which in turn is a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/524,694, which was filed on Oct. 27,2014, which is related to, and claims priority from, U.S. ProvisionalApplication for Patent No. 61/895,654, which was filed on Oct. 25, 2013,U.S. Provisional Application for Patent No. 61/904,252, which was filedon Nov. 14, 2013, and U.S. Provisional Application for Patent No.61/908,383, which was filed on Nov. 25, 2013; the disclosures of all ofwhich are incorporated herein in their entireties. This is also relatedto, and claims priority from, U.S. Provisional Application for PatentNo. 63/069,379, which was filed on Aug. 24, 2020, and U.S. ProvisionalApplication for Patent No. 63/134,323, which was filed on Jan. 6, 2021,the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to methods of presenting content to a viewer, forexample, on a computer display or a dedicated electronic display device.In particular, the invention relates to a system and method of governingpresentation of the content to a user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Content, and text in particular, is normally presented in a staticfashion. That is, when a reader reads text and other content inhard-copy form, text and images do not change, and subtle nuances in themeaning of what the author wishes to convey must be expressed throughthe careful choice of words and the linear, static emplacement of wordsand images. If readers want to understand better, they can read theidentical content twice. Content provided to a viewer on a computer hasthe potential to overcome this constraint, but this capability isunderutilized. A need exists to enhance the capability of electronicmedia so that dynamic content can be provided in ways that willtranscend the limitations of static, linear expression.

The concept that there could be, inside a published work, any commenting“hidden pages” between original pages of text, viewable by the readeronly by choice, is a notion that was so unsuited to—would have seemedunsound in—the old world of paper publishing that probably then it hadnever been considered, despite the usefulness of the approach.

Recently the capacity for Web-based electronic books and articles to bepublished in various formats has been proffered by certain electronicpublishers. However, a limitation shared by all of these pertains to thepublisher's inability to limit dissemination of a document after thesale. Electronic books published by these methods can costlessly bemultiplied by buyers, quite easily—even to the extent that someelectronic publishers do not guard against the practice.

In a similar way problems are faced especially by corporations andgovernmental organizations stemming from the evident impossibility ofpreventing confidential documents—even hundreds or thousands or millionsat a time—from being surreptitiously copied to small electronic storagedevices by individuals who have had access to these legally at the timebut now wish to disseminate them illegitimately. It would be optimal ifsuch documents meant to be circulated to members of a carefully selected“core group” reading list, for instance could be copied only onto oneelectronic storage device, and then locked onto that device permanently.

And similarly, there may be times when an author or publisher would wishit if certain readers who lack the training to comprehend the work athand, yet might assume that they did while reading, from being able toaccess the document easily. The author or publisher might also want torestrict access to the document altogether, or to restrict or conditionone or more aspects of access to the document or portions of thedocument.

Further, sometimes a publisher or an author might find it ideal if adocument when being made available online, could be made non-searchableby conventional search engines.

No means has existed to satisfy any of these needs, till now.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system by which access to a documentcan be restricted, conditioned, or otherwise controlled. For example, byusing the present invention, to a large extent an author can preventpotential readers whom he or she would want not to read a work fromreading it. As a non-limiting example, if an author has writtensomething that he feels the average reader because of a lack of trainingor lack of exposure to relevant life experiences could not understand,no matter what he or she might think while reading it, that author canlimit dissemination by preparing an “acceptables” list of emailaddresses against which requests for the work would be matched by thepublisher's server before being fulfilled.

Through use of the invention, authors will not be able to block everyonewhom they did not wish to read a work from reading it; of course, copiescould be borrowed or stolen. But in the author's eyes “the wrong people”will at least not be able to go to the store and buy a copy, click on alink, or have the work drop into their inbox as an unsolicitedattachment.

Where the invention is in use as a means of limiting the disseminationof sensitive materials, as for instance in corporations or governmentagencies, a disgruntled or venal employee will be blocked from easilycopying up to millions of confidential documents to a digital storagedevice such as a simple USB memory stick or a portable hard drive, andthen walking away with this in his pocket or bag.

It should be noted that documents published under this invention can bemade unsearchable by search engines by containing the contents withinstrings.

According to an aspect of the invention, a method of governing contentpresentation includes creating a document file. The document file is avariable computer-readable file that includes content, which ispresented to a user in discrete units in controlled sequence on anelectronic display device. A unit of content can be defined by theelectronic display device as a page or screen. The electronic displaydevice can be a dedicated content reader. Preferably, creating adocument file does not include writing programming code.

The content can also include at least one data tag, which can includeformatting tags, hyperlink tags, image source tags, sound source tags,video source tags, table tags, form tags, frame tags, style tags, divtags, class tags, embed tags, object elements, JavaScript, Java appletsFlash units, and/or HTML5 units.

Presenting the content can include reading the document file using anetwork interface, such as a Web browser. The document file can be, forexample, a plaintext file, an HTML file, and/or an XHTML file. Theunviewable content can include advertising content. The document filecan incorporate JavaScript.

The document file can include at least a textual portion, in which caseat least one delimiter can be inserted at a selected position of thetextual portion of the document file, defining delimited content, andpredetermined events and/or actions are tracked that occur while theuser views units of content. For example, the selected position can beoccupied by a particular character combination including the at leastone delimiter. When the at least one delimiter is reached as the userviews units of content, advancement of content can be stopped untilfurther action is taken by the user or presentation of content can bepaused for a selectable, discrete number of time units. Trackingpredetermined events and/or actions that occur while the user viewsunits of content can include tracking a number of the delimiters passedby the user while viewing units of content, and/or tracking a number ofunits of content passed by the user while viewing. The delimiters caninclude delimiters of more than one type, in which case tracking thedelimiters can include separately tracking the delimiters of at leastone type. Tracking the number of units of content passed by the userwhile viewing can include tracking an action by the user causing asubsequent unit of content to be presented, and/or automaticallytracking an end of a current presented unit of content for which thereis no stop delimiter. The delimiters can be meaningful only if presentin the viewable units of content of the current version of the content,if passed by the user after a predetermined action is taken by the user.A monetary charge can be associated with the tracked number ofdelimiters passed by the user, the tracked number of units of contentpassed by the user while viewing, and/or movement of an action key,which is an element of an input device in communication with amicroprocessor device that is in communication with the electronicdisplay device. For example, a total monetary charge can be increasedeach time a delimiter is passed by the user and/or each time the numberof units of content passed by the user while viewing increases. The unitof content can be a page or screen, coded for by, for example, a string.Tracking a number of units of content passed by the user while viewingcan include incrementing a string counter, and the associated monetarycharge can increase when the string counter is incremented. Thedelimiters can include a fee delimiter, in which case the monetarycharge is associated with the tracked number of fee delimiters passed bythe user. The fee delimiter can be variable in such a way as to make themonetary charge assessed by each fee delimiter variable. The monetarycharge and/or a cumulative monetary charge can be multiplied by auser-associated factor. The user-associated factor can be determined atleast in part by, for example, performance by the user of a task, suchas a task related to questions regarding substance of the content.

According to another aspect of the invention, an integrated deviceincludes a storage medium, a microprocessor device, and an electronicdisplay device. The storage medium includes intransient instructions ina variable computer-readable document file that can be implemented bythe microprocessor device to cause content to be presented to a user onthe electronic display device according to instructions included in aprogram file portion of the document file. The instructions in theprogram file include

-   -   allowing an author to create variable computer-readable content        as a text file portion of the document file, wherein the content        is presentable on the electronic display device in controlled        sequential, discrete units;    -   presenting on the electronic display device a current version of        the content, in which fewer than all of the units of the        contents are viewable by the user, wherein at least some units        of unviewable content are disposed prior to the units of        viewable content and/or after the units of viewable content;    -   recognizing when a predetermined action is performed by the        user; and    -   in response to recognition of performance of the predetermined        action, presenting a subsequent version of the content, such        that at least some of the unviewable units of content in the        current version of the content are viewable in the subsequent        version of the content.

The instructions included in the program file are computer-readableinstructions that are largely unvarying and include previouslyprogrammed computer code allowing the document file to be executed.

At least some of the content can be, for example, textual content, whichcan include annotation content. The unit of content can be a page orscreen on the electronic display device. The electronic display devicecan be a dedicated content reader.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method of preventingunauthorized modification of a document file includes creating adocument file. The document file is a variable computer-readable filethat includes content, which is presentable to a user on an electronicdisplay device. A browser, a portable drive operating system, and/or thedocument file can be modified, for example, such that the document fileincludes a designated extension. For example, the modifications canconjointly render the modified document file unable to be duplicated.Modifying the portable drive operating system can include restrictingthe portable drive operating system such that modified document files onthe modified portable drive cannot be opened by other than the modifiedbrowser.

The designated extension can render the modified document file unable tobe stored except on a modified portable drive, which is a portable driveincluding the modified portable drive operating system. The modifiedportable drive can be a first modified portable drive, and themodifications can conjointly render the modified document file able tobe moved from an original storage location only if the modified documentfile is stored on a second modified portable drive. Alternatively, or inaddition, the modifications can conjointly render the modified documentfile able to be moved to a second modified portable drive only if themodified document file is erased from the first modified portable drive,and unable to be moved to a different modified portable drive otherwise.

The modified document file, stored on the modified portable drive, canbe altered by a user. The modifications can conjointly render themodified document file having the altered text file portion able to bestored only on the modified portable drive to replace the original textfile. The modified document file can be altered by a user by copyingonly a text file portion of the modified document file using a modifiedword processor that is configured within the modified browser, alteringthe copied text file portion of the modified document file using themodified word processor, storing the altered copied text file portion ofthe modified document file using the modified word processor byreplacing the text file portion of the modified document file stored onthe modified portable drive by the altered copied text file portion ofthe modified document file, and using the modified browser conjointlywith the modified portable drive operating system to store the alteredmodified document file. In this case, the browser can be restricted suchthat it can only open a text file using the modified word processor, andthe word processor can be restricted such that it can only store analtered text file to replace the original text file in the originaldocument file on the original portable drive.

In addition, a container ID and an operating executable file can bestored on a portable drive associated with the modified portable driveoperating system. A filename can be assigned to the modified documentfile in which the filename includes a designated filename code. Adesignated browser code can be assigned to the modified browser. Themodified document file can be stored on the portable drive. An operatingprogram associated with the operating executable file can be used todetermine if the filename code is valid, based on a predeterminedcriterion. The operating program associated with the operatingexecutable file can be used to determine if the browser code is valid,based on a predetermined criterion. A condition can be applied such thatopening the modified document file in a browser window by the modifiedbrowser occurs only if the filename code and the browser code are bothdetermined to be valid, otherwise opening the modified document file isrefrained. The container ID can be registered with a publisher, andstorage of the modified document file on any portable drive having anunregistered container ID can be prevented.

The method can also include creating an executable file including themodified document file at a first device. The executable file can betransferred from the first device to a receiving device, which is thefirst device or a second device. The modified document file can beopened from the executable file only if the receiving device iscommunicatively connected to a portable drive having a registeredcontainer ID; in this case, the modified document file is stored on aportable drive having a registered container ID. Opening the modifieddocument file if the receiving device is not communicatively connectedto a portable drive having a registered container ID can be prevented.Transferring the executable file from the first device to a receivingdevice can include emailing the executable file.

An electronic document according to the invention can be distributed bythe publisher as an email attachment. In an exemplary implementation ofthe invention, when a modified “registered” portable drive is connectedvia a USB port of the computer (registration determined by the systemsoftware of the modified Web browser, by checking the container ID ofthe portable drive) and its contents stored on the computer, there is amodified Web browser having software that bears a suitable alphanumericcode—the appropriateness of the alphanumeric code determined by theoperating system of the modified portable drive. As a measure to preventunauthorized duplication of the document by the user, the registeredportable drive to be employed by the user to initially store thedocument can be constrained by the publisher to be a particularregistered portable drive inserted by the user into an accessory drivein the user's computing device at the time of the document'sacquisition. The system software of the modified Web browser, or in analternate implementation the operating system of the modified portabledrive, will cause an operating executable file to be extracted from theemail attachment and stored directly to the modified portable drive.During extraction and storage, the operating executable file will beassigned a filename embracing an alphanumeric code recognizable by theportable drive operating system and the system software of the modifiedWeb browser as corresponding to the particular modified registeredportable drive.

Thereafter, the operating executable file, stored only in a singlelocation—on the particular modified registered portable drive to whichit had originally been stored at the time of extraction of the emailattachment representing the original electronic document—will not beopenable or operable except by a modified Web browser, whether thisbrowser is housed on the original computer or some other suitableelectronic device. The operating executable file corresponding to theoriginal electronic document cannot be read and the text-file sourcecode cannot be viewed or modified, and then after modification if any,cannot again be stored except from and to the original modifiedregistered portable drive.

Thus in general terms, removal of the operating executable file from theparticular modified registered portable drive to which it had originallybeen stored will not be permitted by the system software of the modifiedbrowser. If alteration of the text-file of the original operatingexecutable file by a user occurs, storage of the resulting alteredoperating executable file will not be permitted anywhere except to theoriginal modified registered portable drive. Likewise, duplication ofthe operating executable file on the original modified registeredportable drive or to another such modified registered portable drive, orto any other electronic device, will not be permitted by the Web browsermodified according to the invention.

According to another aspect of the invention, a system of controllingaccess to a document file includes a content management system, adedicated user interface application, and a storage device. The userinterface application, such as a browser, runs on the user's computer orother processing device, and presents the content to the user subject toan encryption scheme enforced by the content management system. Thecontent is stored on the storage device, which can be a portable storagedevice such as a thumb drive, or an internal hard drive. The content canalso be stored on a device at a server and made available via networkconnection, or can be stored on a physical storage medium such as acompact disk, which can be read at the processor by an appropriatereader. The storage device, medium, or reader has associated with it aglobally unique identifier, such as a serial number, that is notdiscernable through physical inspection or routine reading of the outputof the device, medium, or reader. This device is registered with thecontent management system by its identifier.

The method includes creating a document file. The document file is amutable computer-readable file that includes the content, which ispresentable to a user on an electronic display device. The document fileis then encrypted, according to a scheme administered by the contentmanagement system. The encryption scheme incorporates the globallyunique identifier and an encryption key, which are applied as inputs toan encryption algorithm according to the scheme when encrypting thefile. Thus, to access the unencrypted file, a decryption scheme must beincorporated that applies both an identifier associated with theglobally unique identifier and a decryption key associated with theencryption key to a decryption algorithm corresponding to the encryptionalgorithm. The decryption key can be, for example, embedded in the userinterface application such that accessing the decrypted file through theuse of another interface or browser is not possible. In this way, thecontent management system controls access to the document file andtherefore the content.

Access restrictions to the file enforced by the encryption can, forexample, render the document file unable to be duplicated. Further, thecontent management system can restrict storage of the document file tothe device or medium associated with the globally unique identifier, andeven then preferably only if the document file is first encrypted. Forexample, if the document file is first made available to a user inencrypted form on a portable storage device, the user would be able toview the unencrypted document only if the processing device has an IDassociated with the globally unique identifier of that portable storagedevice, using the user interface application embedded with a properdecryption key. The document file would be stored temporarily on theuser's processing device while being viewed, but preferably would onlybe savable back to the portable storage device having the globallyunique identifier, and only in encrypted form. Preferably, the documentfile would be erased permanently from the user's processing system whenencrypted and saved back to the portable storage device. For example,erasing of the document file can be made automatic as part of theencryption or saving processes.

In some cases, the content management system can allow storage of thedocument file from the user's processing device to a different storagedevice or medium. In such a case, the document file would be first beencrypted using an ID associated with the globally unique identifier ofthe different storage device or medium. Preferably, the encrypteddocument file would not be stored to the different storage device ormedium unless it is also permanently erased from the original storagedevice and the user's processing device.

If authorized by the publisher, the content of the document file can bealtered by a user. Preferably, the content management system will renderthe modified document file having the altered content able to be storedonly on the storage device or medium having the globally uniqueidentifier, to replace the original document file. The modified documentfile can be altered by a user by copying the content of the modifieddocument file using a content editor that is configured within themodified user interface application, altering the copied content of themodified document file using the content editor, storing the alteredcopied content of the modified document file using the content editor byreplacing the content of the modified document file stored on theauthorized storage device or medium by the altered copied content of themodified document file, and using the user interface conjointly with thestorage device or medium to store the altered modified document file. Inthis case, the user interface can be configured such that it can onlyopen content using the embedded content editor, and the content editorcan be restricted such that it can only store altered content to replacethe original content in the original document file on the storage deviceor medium. These restrictions are all enforced by the content managementsystem through the use of encryption as described above.

The method can also include creating an executable file including themodified document file at a first device. The executable file can betransferred from the first device to a receiving device, which is thefirst device or a second device. The modified document file can beopened from the executable file only if the receiving device iscommunicatively connected to a storage device having a registeredglobally unique identifier; in this case, the modified document file isstored on a storage device having a registered globally uniqueidentifier. Opening the modified document file if the receiving deviceis not communicatively connected to a storage device having a registeredglobally unique identifier can be prevented by the content managementsystem by enforcing this policy through encryption. Transferring theexecutable file from the first device to a receiving device can includeemailing the executable file, for example, or any other file transfermechanism, such as http download.

An electronic document according to the invention can be distributed bythe publisher, for example, as an email attachment. In an exemplaryimplementation of the invention, when a “registered” portable storagedevice is connected via a USB port of the computer (or other port orinterface)—this, determined by the system software of the user interfaceapplication, by checking the globally unique identifier of the storagedevice—and is contents stored on the computer, there is a user interfaceapplication having software that bears a suitable alphanumeric code—theappropriateness of the alphanumeric code determined by the storagedevice. The system software of the user interface application, or in analternative implementation software resident on the storage device, willcause an operating executable file to be extracted from the emailattachment and stored directly to the storage device. During extractionand storage, the operating executable file will be assigned a filenameembracing an alphanumeric code recognizable by the storage devicesoftware and the user interface application as corresponding to theparticular registered storage device.

Thereafter, the operating executable file, stored only in a singlelocation—on the particular registered storage device to which it hadoriginally been stored at the time of extraction of the email attachmentrepresenting the original electronic document—will not be openable oroperable except by the user interface application associated with thecontent management system, whether this user interface is housed on theoriginal computer or some other suitable electronic device. Theoperating executable file corresponding to the original electronicdocument cannot be read and the content file source code cannot beviewed or modified, and then after modification if any, cannot again bestored except from and to the original registered storage device.

Thus in general terms, removal of the operating executable file from theparticular registered storage device to which it had originally beenstored will not be permitted by the user interface application. Ifalteration of the content file of the original operating executable fileby a user occurs, storage of the resulting altered operating executablefile will not be permitted anywhere except to the original registeredstorage device. Likewise, duplication of the operating executable fileon the original registered storage device or to another such registeredstorage device, or to any other electronic device, will not be permittedby the user interface application according to the invention.

The system and method of the present invention uses encryptiontechniques to control access to a document file that includes content.Encryption is used to enforce the access controls and to ensure theintegrity of transactions between the publisher and users. As described,the invention utilizes encryption and decryption algorithms and keys toimplement the cryptographic techniques. It is contemplated that any typeof symmetric or asymmetric encryption scheme known or devisable to thoseof skill in the art would be applicable to the invention, and althoughspecific examples of cryptographic schemes might be disclosed, it is notintended that the invention be limited to any such scheme orimplementation.

According to an aspect of the invention, a method of controlling accessto a document file includes creating a document file. The document fileis a mutable computer-readable file that includes content, which ispresentable to a user on an electronic display device. The document fileis encrypted, and the encrypted document file is provided to a user.This includes storing the encrypted document file on a content storagedevice that is associated with a unique global identifier as designatedby the publisher, for example, a thumb drive having a unique serialnumber or container ID. Encrypting the document file includes applyingan encryption algorithm to the document file to reversibly encipher thedocument file. Applying the encryption algorithm to the document fileincludes providing an encryption key and the unique global identifierand actuating the encryption algorithm with the encryption key and theunique global identifier. Thus, the encrypted document file will beenciphered in a way that links it to the identifier of the contentstorage device and to the encryption key, which preferably is managed bythe publisher.

To access the document file, the user can open a user interfaceapplication or browser on a processing device. The content storagedevice can be coupled for communication with the processing device. Byway of the user interface application, the user can select the encrypteddocument file for access. The user interface application can thendecrypt the encrypted document file, and the content included in thedecrypted document file is then presented to the user on the electronicdisplay device, within the user interface application. Decrypting theencrypted document file includes applying a decryption algorithmassociated with the encryption algorithm to the encrypted document fileto decipher the encrypted document file. Applying the decryptionalgorithm to the encrypted document file includes providing a decryptionkey associated with the encryption key, and the unique globalidentifier, and actuating the decryption algorithm with the decryptionkey and the unique global identifier. Thus, the document file can onlybe accessed, and the content viewed, if a key corresponding to theencryption key is available, and also if the unique global identifier isavailable, and if the appropriate decryption algorithm is used.

Preferably, the decryption algorithm is embedded within the userinterface application. Thus, the algorithm is applied only through useof the interface. Likewise, the unique global identifier to be appliedto the decryption algorithm is stored in a processor storage deviceaccessible by the user interface application, preferably only be theuser interface application. The identifier can be provided to the userwith the interface download, thereby linking the particular interfacesoftware provided to the user with the global identifier for the contentstorage device to be used by the user. To protect against compromise ofthe identifier, it can be encrypted prior to storing the unique globalidentifier in the processor storage device, and the user interfaceapplication can decrypt the encrypted unique global identifier prior todecrypting the encrypted document file.

Likewise, the decryption key can be stored in a processor storage deviceaccessible by the user interface application. The decryption key canalso be encrypted prior to storing the decryption key in the processorstorage device. The user interface application can then decrypt theencrypted decryption key prior to decrypting the encrypted documentfile.

The decrypted document file is configured to be opened only within theuser interface application. Because the components necessary to decryptthe encrypted document file are embedded within or only accessible bythe user interface, the encrypted document file can only be decryptedand content presented to the user through use of the user interface.Once opened, other access controls can be implemented by the interfaceapplication to designate what can be done with the decrypted documentfile.

For example, the user interface application can be configured to controlaccess to the decrypted document file by preventing duplication of thedecrypted document file. This access control, like any other accesscontrol implemented by the interface, can be fixed or can be madeconditional or limited. For example, a particular user could attain astatus, through payment or otherwise, that would allow the user to makeduplicate copies of the document file, or a limited number of suchcopies.

Preferably, the user interface application controls access to thedecrypted document file by preventing storage of the decrypted documentfile other than on the content storage device having the unique globalidentifier. Thus, the user would receive the document file on thedesignated storage device and would only be able to save the documentfile back to the same storage device. Preferably, the document filewould be encrypted by the user interface application prior storage onthe content storage device.

As another example, the user interface application can control access tothe decrypted document file by preventing modification of the decrypteddocument file by the user. Again, this control could be made fixed, orcould be conditional or limited, in which case controlling access to thedecrypted document file includes allowing, by the user interfaceapplication, modification of the decrypted document file by the user. Ifmodification is allowed, the decrypted document file is loaded intotemporary storage in the processing device and only a text file portionof the decrypted document file is copied using a text editor that isconfigured within the user interface application. The copied text fileportion of the decrypted document file is then modified using the texteditor and the modified copied text file portion of the decrypteddocument file is stored by replacing the text file portion of thedecrypted document file stored in the temporary storage by the modifiedcopied text file portion of the modified document file.

When the decrypted document file is to be presented to the user on theelectronic display device, the decrypted document file is loaded intotemporary storage in the processing device. To be sure that contentcan't be viewed by the user and also be available on the content storagedevice, the user interface application erases the document file from thecontent storage device when loading the decrypted document file intotemporary storage in the processing device, and erases the document filefrom the temporary storage when transferring the document file to thecontent storage device.

However, content can be stored on a different content storage devicethan the device that was first provided to the user, under certaincircumstances. In this way, for example, content can be provided to theuser on a first thumb drive, and later stored to a second thumb drive.It is preferable, however, that only one instance of the document fileexist in the possession of the user.

In this case, the content storage device is a first content storagedevice and the unique global identifier is a first unique globalidentifier. A second content storage device is coupled for communicationwith the processing device, the second content storage device beingassociated with a second unique global identifier. The processor storagedevice is checked for the second unique global identifier, and thedocument file is stored on the second content storage device only if thesecond unique global identifier is stored in the processor storagedevice. The user interface application erases the document file from thetemporary storage when transferring the document file to the secondcontent storage device.

The document file can be an executable file. Providing the encrypteddocument file to the user can include emailing the executable file tothe user.

The method of the invention provides access control of any type over adigital asset that is provided to a user, enforced by encryption. Accesscontrol can be applied to different types of access individually or incombination, and can follow the document or be specific to the user.Access permissions can be conditional and can apply to an entiredocument file or to only portions of the file.

According to an aspect of the invention, a method of controlling accessto a document file includes creating the document file, which is anexecutable file that presents content having at least one media type andis presentable to a user on an electronic device having a processor. Afirst unique global identifier is associated with the document file. Acontent storage device associated with a second unique global identifieris provided. The content storage device is coupled for communicationwith the processor of the electronic device. The document file is thenprovided to the user providing by storing the document file on thecontent storage device, but only if the first unique global identifiercorresponds to the second unique global identifier in a predeterminedmanner. This correspondence can be, for example, identity; that is, ifdesired it can be required that the document file and the contentstorage have the same unique global identifier. Alternatively, thepublisher can specify a mapped correspondence or some other form ofcorrespondence between the first and second unique global identifiers.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method of controllingaccess to a document file includes creating the document file, which isa processor-readable file that includes content having at least onemedia type and is presentable to a user on an electronic device having aprocessor. The document file is encrypted, and the encrypted documentfile is provided to the user by making the encrypted document fileavailable to be stored on a content storage device configured tointerface for communication with the processor. The content storagedevice is associated with a unique global identifier and is arrangedinternal to the electronic device or external to the electronic device.Encrypting the document file includes applying an encryption algorithmto the document file to reversibly encipher the document file. Applyingthe encryption algorithm to the document file includes providing anencryption key and the unique global identifier and actuating theencryption algorithm with the encryption key and the unique globalidentifier.

The method can also include opening, by the user, a user interfaceapplication, on the electronic device. The content storage device iscoupled for communication with the processing device, and the encrypteddocument file is selected for access by the user via the user interfaceapplication. The encrypted document file is then decrypted by the userinterface application, and at least some of the content included in thedecrypted document file is presented to the user on the electronicdevice, within the user interface application. Decrypting the encrypteddocument file includes applying a decryption algorithm associated withthe encryption algorithm to the encrypted document file to decipher theencrypted document file. Applying the decryption algorithm to theencrypted document file includes providing a decryption key associatedwith the encryption key, and a user value associated with the uniqueglobal identifier, and actuating the decryption algorithm with thedecryption key and the user value. Presenting at least some of thecontent included in the decrypted document file to the user on theelectronic device can includes establishing at least one condition to besatisfied by the user, and presenting an amount of the content to theuser corresponding to the at least one condition satisfied by the user.The at least one condition can relate, for example, to payment by theuser, or to consumption of the content by the user. The decrypteddocument file can be configured to be opened only within the userinterface application.

The method can also include controlling, by the user interfaceapplication, access to the decrypted document file. This control caninclude selectively allowing and preventing, by the user interfaceapplication, duplication of the decrypted document file.

Controlling access to the decrypted document file by the user interfaceapplication can include selectively allowing and preventing, by the userinterface application, modification of the decrypted document file bythe user. For example, modification of the decrypted document file by auser can include loading the decrypted document file into temporarystorage in the electronic device, copying a content portion of thedecrypted document file using a content editor that is configured withinthe user interface application, modifying the copied content portion ofthe decrypted document file using the content editor, and storing themodified copied content portion of the decrypted document file using thecontent editor by replacing the content portion of the decrypteddocument file stored in the temporary storage by the modified copiedcontent portion of the modified document file.

Controlling, by the user interface application, access to the decrypteddocument file can include preventing, by the user interface application,storage of the modified document file other than on the content storagedevice having the unique global identifier.

The method can include copying content from a registered storage deviceto another storage device, but only if the storage device to which thecontent is being copied is also a registered storage device.

Copying content from a first to a second registered storage devicepreferably will occur by the network interface application's determiningthat a second registered drive is present in a peripheral slot, bycopying and deleting the decrypted document file from temporary storage,by re-encrypting the file, and by storing the re-encrypted version onthe second device. As the executable's title, the network interfaceapplication will use an alphanumeric code which is correct with respectto the second device.

Controlling access to the decrypted document by the user interfaceapplication file can include selectively allowing and preventingfunctions of the user interface application associated with thedecrypted document file.

The document file can include an executable file. Providing theencrypted document file to the user can include emailing the executablefile to the user as an email attachment. The method can also includeassigning a unique alphanumeric identifier to the document file, andassigning the unique alphanumeric identifier to the email attachment.

The method can also include determining whether the content storagedevice is coupled for communication with the electronic device, andprior to dissemination of the email attachment, modification toencompass the unique alphanumeric identifier of the storage device.

The method can also include assigning a binary-valued variable to theexecutable file and setting the binary-valued variable to a first valuewhen the executable file is first provided to the user. Thebinary-valued variable is set to a second value when the executable fileis copied to a storage device other than the content storage deviceassociated with the unique global identifier, including temporarystorage in a computing device. Copying of the executable file is thencontrolled by checking the value of the binary-valued variable, allowingcopying if the value of the binary-valued variable is the first value,and prohibiting copying if the value of the binary-valued variable isthe second value. The method can also include setting the binary-valuedvariable to the first value when the user interface application isclosed by the user with erasure of the document file from temporarystorage. If the user pays a fee associated with access to the documentfile while the content storage device is coupled for communication withthe processing device, the binary-valued variable is set to the firstvalue.

According to another aspect of the invention, a content managementsystem includes system memory storing instructions that, when executedby a processor implement the inventive method.

According to an exemplary preferred implementation of the invention, thefollowing sequence occurs:

1. At the time of acquisition of a document from the publisher, aregistered drive must be present in a peripheral slot, coupled forcommunication with the user's computing device.

2. The purchased executable file of the document will only now be formedby the publisher, later to be disseminated as an email attachment. Thepublisher will assign to the .exe file an identifying alphanumericalgorithmically corresponding to the unique global identifier of theregistered storage device, as “learned” by the publisher in the previousstep.

3. For the user to be allowed to download the email attachment, hiscomputing device must have the designated storage device in a peripheralslot or otherwise coupled for communication with the computing device;also, the storage device's unique global identifier must correspond withthe identifying alphanumeric assigned to the executable file.

4. Before the executable file can be decrypted and opened from thestorage device by the user interface, the interface must confirm thatthe storage device is “registered” and confirm that its unique globalidentifier corresponds with the alphanumeric of the executable file.

5. If both conditions are met, the .exe is copied and the document filedecrypted and stored in RAM.

6. A value of a binary variable in the .exe simultaneously is changed toblock “current re-use” of the .exe. The value of this variable willrevert when the user interface is closed.

7. If the user wants to move the .exe file to a different registereddrive, he can do so with the document open in the user interface—in lieuof closing the interface. Or he can move the executable directly toanother registered drive.

8. In either case, the original copy of the .exe file be “blocked” bythe binary variable. On the new drive, the document file will bere-encrypted and stored with a name corresponding to the unique globalidentifier of the new drive.

9. The user can reactivate a “blocked” .exe by paying for a second copy.The blocking variable will revert.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary document file.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of content.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram that shows an exemplary general process of theinvention.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram that shows a particular exemplary aspect of themonetary charge process of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary integrated device according tothe invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an exemplary query process of the invention.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flow diagrams of exemplary delimiter processes of theinvention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary integrated device according tothe invention.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram that shows an exemplary general process of theinvention.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are flow diagrams that show exemplary generalduplication-prevention processes of the invention.

FIGS. 13 and 14 are flow diagrams that show particular exemplary aspectof the copy process of the invention.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram that shows a particular exemplary aspect ofthe authoring process of the invention.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram that shows an exemplary general process of theinvention.

FIGS. 17-24 are flow diagrams showing aspects of an exemplary contentmanagement system according to the invention.

FIGS. 25-30 are flow diagrams showing aspects of exemplary accesscontrol provisions according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system by which a publisher and/or anauthor can create a document, control access to that document by a user,and control presentation of the document content to the user onceaccessed. Particulars of document creation and presentation aredescribed briefly herein, and these aspects of the invention incorporatedetails more fully described in the documents listed above, thedisclosures of which are also incorporated herein by reference above.Aspects of the invention related to access control apply to documentscreated according to the invention, but are not limited in applicabilityto such documents. The access control features described herein arecontemplated for use with any digital asset without restriction.

Further, such a digital asset can include any form of content, includingtext, sound (such as a music file), still image (such as a photographicimage), or moving or animated image (such as a movie file), alone or incombination as part of a multimedia file. For simplicity of discussion,such digital assets are referred to herein as document files, which termshall encompass any type of mono-media or multimedia file.

The present invention provides a way to present a document consisting oftext characters and/or other content to a viewer, such as a computeruser, in multiple versions which can be temporally sequenced accordingto the depression of one or more predetermined control or action keys asspecified by the author of the document being viewed. For example,according to the invention, a document can include words, letters,numerals, symbols, blocks of color, digital photographs, graphicalimages, movies, sound, any other visual and/or audio binary file, formsor interactive forms, structured data, markup language data, links, andWeb pages, which can be presented on a viewer's display sequentially astwo or more versions, both of these or all of these controlled by thereader using an action key or keys, the second and/or later versionsbeing brought before the viewer only once he or she has struck thepertinent action key.

In a broad embodiment of the invention, after a designated action by theuser, the initial version of the document is replaced by the secondversion, which may include more, different, or otherwise less materialthan the original document. For example, the initial version can bereplaced with a second version that is identical to the initial versionwith the exception that it includes additional text on or following someor all of the pages of the initial version. Per a decision made by theauthor or editor, an indefinite number of subsequent versions can bepresented, each differing in some manner from the one previous to it.Thus, a one-page document can be replaced, for example, by a similardocument having as a second page, the first page now with certainannotations. Or otherwise, a “logically complete” single-page documentcan be supplemented by one or more additional pages that are subordinateto or otherwise related to it. A document can continue to be expandedthrough the presentation of subsequent versions, serially. The initialversion can include, constitute, or encompass typed or hand-writtennotes, an author's outline, précis, or summary, or any other preliminaryaspect of the writing process that then will be developed through thepresentation of subsequent versions into a progressively more complexand/or complete work of description, narration, and/or explication.

It can also be the case that notes, an outline, and/or other preliminaryaspects of the writing process can follow a complete work, or be placedwithin it at an intermediate point or some intermediate points.

An electronic document, after having been published, can be modified bythe author or editors, for instance, to discuss continuing developmentsin a news cycle or in a course of scientific discovery, to embracereaders' comments including criticisms of the initial document, orsimply to air the author's or editors' further reflections on thesubject matter after some passage of time. Such additional material canbe folded into the initial version in the form of additions to andannotations on the original pages, or can be made up into a more complexand refined, separate, new serial version.

Versions of the document can differ by the presence of “interleaves”disposed in a second and any subsequent versions of the document aspresented to the user, each version of the document file beingsequentially read by a microprocessor device according to instructionscontained in the program file and subordinately, the text file. If forexample there are two versions of a document, the first version willbypass all of the interleaves and only the second version present theinterleaves in their proper order. Or the interleaves can be present inthe first version, or second or further versions, but not viewable untilactivation of a particular action key by the user; or otherwise,interleaves pertaining to the first version, or second or furtherversions, can be present elsewhere than within the respective versionand not viewable except with activation of a particular action key bythe viewer, with activation of the same or different action key requiredto return the viewer to the respective version. In other words, theelectronic publication will have multiple interleaves hidden betweendesignated pages or sections of the document, or after or before thedocument, as the document is originally presented to a viewer. Theseinterleaves normally will be hidden from the reader so by the document'sauthor's design, the viewer will not see them the first time readingthrough the book. Then, after a predetermined action, such as actuationof a predetermined key by the viewer, the second version of the contentis presented to the viewer. The second version includes interleavedcontent that was not available to the viewer when accessing the firstversion. The possibility that the reader will summon the interleavesother than at the point or points intended by the author can beprevented by constraining the definition of the action key so that theactivation of the key by the reader will have one or more differenteffects or no effect depending on the page viewed by the reader at thetime of the activation of the key.

Thus, according to the invention, the author or a commentator canprovide interleaved material that complements or comments on theoriginal material. For example, the interleaved content can includenotes by the author of the original work, scholarly comments andinterpretations by others, and historical and geographical facts relatedto passages in the content provided. Material in interleaves may bewritten by the author, editors, or later commentators, and interleavedmaterial may qualify or advance the initially presented material.

To implement the method of the invention, text is written by anauthor/programmer so as to be read by a reader's computer, or othermicroprocessor-driven device, as computer code. This code can be, forexample, similar to or no different from ordinary HTML code, yet themethod of the invention provides several advantages. The code includesdelimiters that the author can use when writing/coding that will stop ordelay presentation of content to the viewer, charge viewers a variableamount as that point in the document is passed, or return to thebeginning of the document. These delimiters can be combined.

In a preferred embodiment, the text or other content is authored suchthat text, or the ordinary language of HTML or XHTML or anothercompatible language for the Web, is augmented with new delimiters. Thetext is coded by the author in “strings” that include the delimiters,wherein each string presents a new screen of text. According to theinvention, all formatting features of HTML can be used. Retaining thebroad feature set capability of HTML provides great advantages to theauthor.

Annotations can also be made to appear or go away at the stroke of anaction key. For example, these notes can appear in indented andhighlighted boxes, or in any other format of the author's choosing, oncethe interleaves are enabled. Highlighting or other emphasis of text canalso arise, timed to appear automatically according to the author'sspecification or on depression of the action key by the viewer.

HTML documents can be made to appear as advertisements that appear onthe viewer's screen, one by one, either in a timed, automatic sequencein the currently viewed version of the document, or at the control ofthe viewer, either in the currently viewed version of the document or ina second or subsequent version. For boxes or pages to appear in anautomatic timed sequence within or as a complete individual string thatmakes up a non-interleaf page, a delay delimiter can be inserted.

According to an exemplary general process of the invention, the authorcreates a document file by authoring content that preferably includestext. Predetermined portions of the text are delimited in order todefine delimited content. The document file is then read by amicroprocessor device and displayed to a viewer, and the delimitedcontent is displayed differently than other portions of the content ofthe document file according to the nature of the delimiters chosen bythe author/programmer. The coding of the delimiters can be madetransparent to the author, because this coding is concealed in thedocument file within the program file, separately from the text file andin a way that the author is not expected to modify, or need to modify.Therefore, computer programming skills are not needed at the time ofauthoring or formatting of an article or book. For example, an authormay apply any delimiters of his or her choosing through utilizing thesame word processing program he or she uses to author ordinarystatic-text documents. Regardless of location, delimiters will “dropout” in the sense that although they will have meaning to themicroprocessor running the conjoint document and program files, theviewer will never see the characters or the spaces of the delimiters onhis or her screen.

The document file need not only include text, and instead can be amultimedia file including still and moving images and sound as content,any portion of which can be delimited. Further, HTML files and XHTMLfiles can be document files that are authored according to theinvention, and any section of such a document can be delimited forcontrolled presentation to a viewer.

As part of the authoring process, the author defines delimited contentin the document file as the text file component of the document file isfirst authored, or later, in a separate delimiting action. The viewerwill display the document on a microprocessor device such as a computeror dedicated document reader, which will identify the delimited contentand present it to the viewer as specified by the author. If the computeror other viewing device is connected to a network, a conjoint text andprogram file can be stored on a server or in a location at which it canbe accessed by a server, and a network interface program can be used toview the document file. Or alternately, the text file and the programfile can be stored in separate locations, particularly if the programfile does not need to be altered to run a certain text file. Forexample, a Web browser running on a notebook computer with a wirelessInternet connection can be used to view the document file throughreference to the program file, where the conjoined text and programfiles can be accessed via the reader's typing in the Web address of theconjoined document (the text file as this is embedded within the programfile) in a browser task bar.

The authoring process can include delimiting the content such thatfurther action is required by the viewer to access the second version ofthe document file. As previously discussed, this action can include theuse of an action key. The viewer will be able to display a portion ofthe complete document file, but subsequent viewing of currentlyunviewable content will require additional action as specified by theauthor.

Thus, the authoring process includes creating content and delimiting itso that presentation of content is controlled either automatically or bythe viewer through activating an action key. The capability to author adocument in this manner can be provided by any word processing program.This document, now in the sense of a “document file,” can be stored on amedium such as a portable memory device or a hard drive internal to acomputer, or as instructions resident temporarily in RAM. The storedinstructions can be implemented by a microprocessor device throughreference to an unchanging or modestly modifiable program file, whichwill be combined with the text file or will be stored separately andcause a document to be displayed on an electronic device. Although inthe exemplary implementation of the invention, the text file will bewritten in ordinary HTML or XHTML code, the program file preferably willbe written in JavaScript. Multi-page documents including interleaveswill be presented as collections of single web pages in an ordinary webbrowser. Text file code can be accessible to viewers if desired by thepublisher, allowing users to modify their copy of the text file in thesense of adding their comments to their own copies, for instance.

Text for presentation according to the invention can be created bymodifying previously-authored plain-text documents. Such plain-textdocuments are divided into strings, each string representing a singlepage or other predefined unit. Strings are marked up in a markuplanguage, such as HTML, and delimiters are added. The resulting textfile is inserted into the program, to be acted on by a program file thatis also present in the document file.

It is also contemplated that the invention can be embodied as anintegrated device that includes the storage medium described above, aswell as a microprocessor device and an electronic display device. Theintegrated device can include an action key in communication with themicroprocessor device for initiating viewer action.

Although the invention has been described to this point in terms ofviewing versions of a complete document, it is contemplated that adocument can be divided, such as into chapters, and that the chapters orother components can be serialized individually, in order or otherwise,each component having one or more interleaved versions that can bepresented to a viewer. For example, a sequence of strings, eachrepresenting an individual page in the document, can be indefinitelylong and can resemble a magazine, newspaper, or book, with any number ofpages and any number of articles or chapters. Non-sequential accessfeatures, can also be provided through modification of the program file.Tables of contents at any point in a document can comprise simple lists,or they can be geometrically more complex shapes, including graphics,digital photographs, and text, created, for example, using HTML's“table” or Cascading Style Sheets “DIV” functions, “Advertisementboxes,” possibly hyperlinked to Web pages and possibly authoredaccording to the method of this invention, can also appear on table ofcontents pages, or anywhere else in the document, including betweenpages of otherwise-continuous narrative text.

In tables of contents or at other “points of departure” in a document,items can be hyperlinked and/or can anticipate possible “infralinking”by the user—the latter term referring to the activation of an action keyto shift the viewing frame to a different page or to a different unit ofcontent within the document. To permit infralinking, the action key tobe activated can be indicated as a superscript beside a particular termor the end of a sentence, for example.

Off-line viewing of documents can also be permitted, with contentconsumption and associated charges determined only when the viewer nextlogs on to the content-provider's Web site. While off-line, throughattending to their fee total, viewers can limit their consumption toremain within a preferred tolerance.

Thus, according to the invention, the author of a document can controlthe manner in which it is displayed to a reader. For example, anincomplete version, followed by a more complete version, followed bystill more complete versions, some or all of which might be annotated,can be provided to the viewer in sequence, through the use ofinterleaved content. Also, fee delimiters can be included within theinterleaved pages and ordinary pages of a document in order that apublisher, author or editor, or later commenter can levy appropriatefees of viewers commensurate with their consumption of the document.

The present invention includes the method as described above. Within thescope of the invention, the method can be implemented as a computerprogram that can run on a computer or any device having a processor,including a dedicated reading device. The program can be loaded onto thecomputer directly, or can be implemented over the Internet or any othernetwork. The invention can also be embodied as a non-transient storagemedium on which are stored instructions that can be interpreted by aprocessor to cause a computer or other device to perform actionsaccording to the described method, as described above.

The invention can also be embodied as a computer or other device onwhich the method is performed. For example, a general-purpose computer,including a processor, memory, one or more input devices, and a displayof some sort, set up to view text as described herein, or set up on anetwork or as a stand-alone device and receiving documents authoredaccording to the invention, is contemplated as falling within the scopeof the invention. A special-purpose device dedicated to readingdocuments authored according to the invention is likewise contemplated.For example, document files can be loaded onto and stored on a portablememory medium that can be attached to and read by such a special-purposedevice, or document files can be downloaded onto such device via anetwork or directly from another computer or other electronic device.Such a special-purpose “reader” will preferably be portable and willpresent documents to a viewer. Such a device can be functionally simple,including a display, action keys, and a pointing device that can move acursor to navigate the table of contents of a document being read. Forexample, a portable console having a suitable display can be providedwith a touchpad pointing device and buttons, advantageously located formanipulation by a reader.

Thus, it is apparent that the invention provides a number of advantagesover static text as it is presented in printed books and magazines andin “eBooks.”

The following is a non-limiting example of content provided to a vieweraccording to the invention. A document is provided to a user as aJavaScript and HTML file, preferably as an email attachment or as adirect download either to a portable device such as a laptop,smartphone, or tablet computer, or to a non-portable electronic devicesuch as a desktop computer. Once the file is opened in a Web browser, itis presented to the viewer as a series of pages, which each can containany combination of text and media content. Each page can be sized to beviewed on a single screen of the viewer's device, or can be scrollable.If according to author's wishes, during presentation of a document thecurrent page does not automatically progress to the next page, then whenthe viewer has finished consuming the content on a current page, he orshe actuates a predetermined key to move on to the next page. In apreferred implementation, pressing the Enter key (hereinafter, “the mainaction key”) on a viewer's computer keyboard or dedicated reader keypadcan advance the content to the next unviewed non-interleaf page of thecurrently viewable unit of content; pressing the “N” key can advance theviewing frame by “1+(the number of interleaves between non-interleavedpages in the document),” and pressing the “J” key can advance theviewing frame by 1, regardless of whether the current page is anon-interleaf or an interleaf page, for instance. Also, if the firststring of the document is chosen by the author as the target, thenumeral “1” on the computer keyboard can be programmed to reset thestring counter to 0, thus returning the viewer to the first page, theutilization of other page-targets necessitating the resetting of thestring counter to other numerals, of course.

According to the invention, it is possible that the next page willdeviate only infinitesimally from the prior one, for example only in thecoloring or font style, bolding, italicization, underlining, orhighlighting of a single word, or can deviate more markedly from it,through, for example, the addition of a commenting text box or boxes; orthe two pages can be entirely different from each another, or can be nodifferent from one another whatsoever. Progression from the current pageto the next page can be “in register.” Progression from the current pageto the next page will always be instantaneous, except when the mainaction key (“Enter”) is used to advance the page.

As shown in FIG. 3 , such a method includes creating a document file 8,which includes a text file portion 2 and a program file portion 3 (FIG.1 ). The document file is a variable computer-readable file thatincludes content. When the document file is opened, the content ispresented to a user on an electronic display device, in discrete unitsaccording to a controlled sequence. As shown in FIG. 2 , the contentincludes viewable content 6 and unviewable content 5, 7. In the exampleshown, some unviewable content 5 precedes the viewable content 6 insequence, whereas other unviewable content 7 follows the viewablecontent in sequence, although the sequencing of viewable and unviewablecontent units can be configured any manner according to the invention,as is apparent to one of skill in the art.

According to the exemplary embodiment shown, a current version of thecontent is presented 9. In this current version, fewer than all of theunits of the content are viewable by the user, that is, only currentlyviewable units of content are viewable by the user. The unviewable unitsof content preceding and following the viewable units of content cannotbe seen by the user when the current version of the content is beingviewed. The user views the viewable units of content, which can advanceunit-by-unit through a predetermined sequence, either automatically orby action of the user.

At some point, a subsequent version of the content can be presented tothe user, again either automatically or by action of the user 11.According to this exemplary embodiment, the user performs apredetermined action 10, in response to which the subsequent version ofthe content is presented 11. The subsequent version of the contentvaries from the current version in some respect. In this example, atleast some of the units of content that were unviewable in the currentversion of the content can be viewable in the subsequent version of thecontent. This subsequent version of the content might be the finalversion, or further subsequent versions of the content can be presentedto the user in this manner, each of which can vary from thepreviously-viewed version in some respect. The previously-unviewablecontent can be additional text, such as explanatory text or text that isrevealing in some way and that completes or extends the content that waspreviously viewed. Alternatively, the previously-unviewable content canbe annotation content, commentary, bibliographical information,advertising content, or any other content that is subsequently added tothe current content, as part of one or more subsequent versions. Againalternatively, the previously-unviewable units of content can be anidentical version of the currently viewable version—this done to enablethe user to modify the original version while maintaining an unmodifiedcopy of it, intact. The two versions can be “toggled between” by a userby employing a pair of special action keys defined within the programfile.

Thus, the user reads the current version of the content until such timeas he or she chooses to be presented with the subsequent, differentversion of the content, in this case when the predetermined action isperformed by the user. In response to performance of the predeterminedaction, presentation of the content can also be redirected to adifferent unit of content 13. For example, presentation of the contentcan be returned to a previous unit of the content, such as the firstunit of content viewed by the user. Alternatively, the different unit ofcontent can be a unit of content that was previously unviewable, such ascontent prior to the beginning of the viewable content in the previousversion.

As mentioned above, the subsequent version of the content can bepresented in response to a predetermined action performed by the user.However, conditions can be implemented regarding when performance of thepredetermined action will lead to presentation of the subsequentversion. For example, to ensure that the user reads a sufficient amountof the current content before moving on to the subsequent version, useof the predetermined action to cause presentation of the subsequentversion can be conditioned such that the subsequent version is notpresented on performance of the predetermined action unless a minimumpredetermined number of units of content have been viewed 12 by the userprior to performance of the predetermined action. This enables theauthor of the document to prevent a user from jumping ahead to thesubsequent version prematurely, before having read (and purchased)sufficient current content.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the author and/or publisher of the document filecan charge a fee for consumption of the content by the user by assessinga monetary charge 15, for example, for every consumed unit of content,or for every performance of the predetermined action 14 or otherdesignated event. A notification 16 can be provided to the user eachtime the charge is increased, or is about to be increased, and indicia17 can be provided to the user showing the total monetary chargeincurred during a session. The charge amount can represent an amountthat the user will be required to pay, or an amount that will bededucted from a pre-paid account established by the user with thepublisher.

The predetermined action mentioned above can be any action designated bythe publisher that is able to be performed on the user's viewingplatform. As shown in FIG. 5 , if the content is to be presented andviewed on a conventional computer or other typical microprocessor device20 that is in communication with the electronic display device 21 andwhich can be connected for communication via a network 22, thepredetermined action can be the depression of a keyboard key 18,combination of keys, or series of keys, for example. If the content isviewed on a dedicated viewing device, such as a device specificallydesigned to view content provided by the publisher or by publishersproviding content according to the method of the invention, thedesignated action can be movement of an action key 18 on an input device19, which can be designated specifically for this purpose. It iscontemplated that any input action apparent to one of skill in the artcan function as the predetermined action.

The predetermined action can also be interactive. For example, as shownin FIG. 6 , after consuming a certain predetermined amount of currentcontent 23, the user can be presented with a query 24, such as one ormore questions related to the substance of content consumed to thatpoint, to which the user must provide an answer 25. The predeterminedaction would be the correct response to a question, or to a great enoughpercentage of a number of questions. If this requirement is satisfied,the subsequent content is presented to the use 26. If this requirementis not satisfied, the action is not deemed to have been performed, andthe subsequent version (for example, a version in which unviewablecontent following the end of the current content becomes viewable) isnot provided to the user. If the requirement is not satisfied,subsequent versions of the content can be forever denied to the user, asan example of a harsh consequence. Alternatively, the user may beoffered an opportunity to answer the questions again, to answer relatedbut different questions, or to re-consume the content on which thequestions are based before being given a new opportunity to respond tothe query.

The content itself can include, but does not necessarily include, text.The content can also include still images, animation, audio content, orany type of media or data that can be experienced by a user, and theterm “view” as used herein is intended to encompass any such receivingexperience by a user. Thus, the document file can be, for example, aplaintext file, an HTML file, and/or an XHTML file, and the content canalso include at least one data tag, which can include formatting tags,hyperlink tags, image source tags, sound source tags, video source tags,table tags, form tags, frame tags, style tags, div tags, class tags,embed tags, object elements, JavaScript, Java applets, Flash units,and/or HTML5 units. The units by which the content is measured can bedesignated by the publisher to be of any size. For example, a unit canbe designated to be a line of text, a sentence of text, a paragraph oftext, a chapter of mixed-media content, a string of data, or any othermeasurable quantity of content, text or otherwise. A “page” of text,defined by the screen of the electronic display device on which thecontent is viewed, is another example of what can be designated as aunit of content. If the content is provided via a network interface andis viewed by the user in a browser window, that window can also be usedto define the unit size.

As shown in FIG. 7 , if the document includes a textual portion, one ormore delimiters can be inserted 27 at a selected position(s) of thetextual portion to define delimited content. For example, at a selectedposition, the textual portion can be occupied by a particular charactercombination that includes a delimiter. When the delimiter is reached 30as the user consumes units of content 29, advancement of content can becaused to stop 32 until further action is taken by the user.Alternatively, presentation of content can be paused 31 for aselectable, discrete number of time units.

Further, predetermined events and/or actions can be tracked 28 thatoccur while the user consumes units of content. For example, a number ofactive delimiters passed by the user by pressing the main action keywhile viewing currently viewable units of content, and/or a number ofunits of content passed by the user while viewing any units of content,whether currently viewable or subsequently viewable units of content,can be tracked and counted 34. More than one type of delimiter can beused, in which case tracking the delimiters can include separatelytracking the delimiters of each type or of one particular type. Thenumber of units of content passed by the user while viewing can betracked by tracking actions performed by the user that cause asubsequent unit of content to be presented, or by automatically trackingthe end of a current presented unit of content for which there is or isnot a stop delimiter. In this way, consumption by the user of contentcan be tracked in order to determine the user's consumption data, forpurposes of interest to the publisher.

For example, a monetary charge 35 can be associated with the trackednumber of delimiters passed by the user, the tracked number of units ofcontent passed by the user while viewing, movement of the action key, orany other tracked behavior. For example, each time a delimiter is passedby the user, or each time the number of units of content is passed whileviewing, a total monetary charge can be increased. If the tracked unitof content is a string, a string counter can be incremented to track thenumber of units of content passed by the user while viewing, and theassociated monetary charge is increased whenever the string counter isincremented.

A particular fee delimiter 36 can be designated separately from otherdelimiters, so that the monetary charge is associated with the trackednumber of fee delimiters passed by the user can be used to increase themonetary charge rather than the tracked number of units of contentconsumed. This fee delimiter can be variable 37 in such a way as to makethe associated monetary charge variable, for flexibility in charging auser for consuming content. In order to provide discounts or tootherwise provide a different fee schedule for different users consumingthe same content, the instantaneous monetary charge and/or a cumulativemonetary charge for the user can be multiplied by a user-associatedfactor 38. The user-associated factor can be determined by, for example,the user's reaching content-consumption goals, or the user's performanceof a task, such as a task related to answering questions regardingsubstance of the content.

Presentation of the content to the user need not be restricted torevealing previously unviewable content to the user in subsequentversion(s) by adding these to the current version of the content.Instead, for example, the content can be presented to the user in two ormore discrete versions in controlled sequence, as shown in FIG. 10 . Anoriginal or current version of the content, in which units of thecontent are currently viewable by the user, is presented 51. The userperforms a predetermined action 52. In response to performance of thepredetermined action, a subsequent version of the content is presented53. Thus, on performance of the action by the user, a completereplacement version of the content is presented for consumption, inwhich at least some units of the content can be added, removed, orotherwise different from the previous version

As shown in FIG. 9 , the invention can be embodied as an integrateddevice that includes a storage medium 50, a microprocessor device 45,and an electronic display device 46. The storage medium 50 includesintransient instructions 44 in the program file portion 48 of thevariable computer-readable document file 47. The instructions 44 can beimplemented by the microprocessor device 45 to cause content to bepresented to the user on the electronic display device 46 according tothe instructions 44. The instructions 44 in the program file 48 allowthe author to create variable computer-readable content as a text fileportion 49 of the document file 47, for presentation on the electronicdisplay device 46. The text file portion 49 includes viewable contentand unviewable content, presentable to the user as otherwise describedherein. The instructions 44 included in the program file 48 are acomputer-readable instructions that are largely unvarying and includepreviously programmed computer code allowing the document file 47 to beexecuted.

An executable file including the modified document file can be createdat a first device and transferred from the first device to a receivingdevice. This receiving device can be a second device, or it can be thefirst device, such as when the first device is a node that is shared bytwo or more users. The transfer of the executable file can, for example,be made via email, which can be received by a recipient at anotherdevice, or by another recipient at the same device, usually via adifferent user account than that used by the sender. When transferred byemail, the publisher's .exe attachment can be opened by the user fromthe email only if the receiving device is communicatively connected to aportable drive having a registered container ID; then the .exe will bestored immediately to the inserted portable drive.

As a means of preventing the illegitimate duplication of the publisher'semail .exe attachment to a second or further registered portable drive,initial storage of the publisher's executable attachment including themodified document file can be limited to one designated registeredportable drive.

Preferably, to achieve the designation, at the time of the acquisitionof the modified document file from the publisher's Web site by the user,the user inserts the one registered portable drive into an accessorydrive in the user's computer, while the publisher's computer records thecontainer ID of the inserted registered portable drive, thentransmitting to the user's email address the publisher's emailexecutable attachment including the modified document file.

Subsequently to the initial storage of the executable attachmentincluding the modified document file by the user to the designatedregistered portable drive, this .exe can be transferred to anotherregistered portable drive. However, through the means discussed below,the designated registered portable drive cannot be employed by the userto store the publisher's email .exe attachment including the modifieddocument file a second or further time. Therefore, any attempt by theuser to create one or more duplicate copies of a purchased digital bookcan be frustrated.

The invention can be implemented through certain modifications beingmade to an existing Web browser, to an existing portable drive operatingprogram, and to documents as described herein such that these documents,which will be executable documents, will bear their own uniqueextensions, such as “.N11”™, in place of, for example, “.txt,” “.doc,”“.htm” or “.html” extensions. When these modifications are made,documents authored according to the invention are playable only from andstorable only to designated pieces of digital memory equipment, such asUSB portable drives (memory stick, flash drive, thumb drive, etc.) orother hardware storage token, or in an alternate implementation, fromand to the digital memory of particular computers and cell phones, forexample. Likewise, when these innovations are implemented, various rigidand at this time-point unexpected and unusual restrictions can be placedupon viewers' use of electronic documents that they possess.

A conventional jump Drive® or other portable drive has its ownunmodifiable and unique serial number imbedded in it, just as everycomputer has a MAC address. This serial number in a portable drive canbe considered the “container ID.” Assuming that a digital publisherissues unique portable drives for use according to this invention, whichwill hereinafter be referred to as “registered portable drives,” suchdrives are manufactured with, in addition to the regular container IDembedded on them, a stored special operating executable file to run thedrive. This modified operating .exe file will include an“examine-alphanumeric-code before the .N11 executable file can beopened” function written into it. The possessor of such a drive cannotopen, play, or reveal the text file or other source code of a documentwith an .N11 extension, except when this .N11 file is stored on aportable drive known by the publisher to be a registered portable drive.This restriction is made possible particularly because of the specialnature of the new web browser, which can itself exclusively open, play,and show source code of .N11 files—this browser hereinafter referred toas the B-prime, or “B′”™, browser—in conjunction with other features ofthis invention.

A B′ browser can be used for security reasons, for example, in order toprevent an executable file with an .N11 extension from being opened andplayed and from having its source code revealed by any browser, otherthan a B′ browser, and except where this .N11 executable file wasalready stored on a registered portable drive. An existing browser canbe modified in several ways, to become the B′ browser. For example, itcan be modified to permit the embedding of a unique code module, whichmay be an alphanumeric expression, at a designated location within itscode. Further, it can be modified to “handicap” certain expectedfunctions of a web browser, such as the “open” and “show source code” ofa markup language's file functions, so that these will not be executedunless certain preconditions are met, and so that the “show source code”function can be limited in the currently unexpected and unusual waysdiscussed below. In addition, the browser can be modified to be able tocheck, at the request of the B′ browser itself, a continuously updatedlist (maintained by the publisher, for example in an online database) ofregistered portable drives that have been issued by the publisher, forthe presence or absence of a particular container ID.

Thus, each .N11 file issued according to this method will be stored onlyon a registered portable drive, and each .N11 executable file issuedaccording to this method will initially only be stored on the registeredportable drive designated by the user and the publisher for the initialstorage of the .N11. file—or alternatively, initially only stored toregistered devices of a different, yet comparable electronic storagemedium type, including ones not yet marketed and/or ones utilizingtechnology not yet invented, including proprietary types—and willinclude in its file name the unique alphanumeric code issued by thepublisher at dissemination. A “check-alphanumeric-in-file name” functionof the jump-drive operating program will determine if this filename codeis valid, whether it is, being determined preferably by algorithmiccomparison of the alphanumeric codes of the filename and storage device.Then, assuming that the checked code is valid, a second function of thejump-drive operating program, a “check-alphanumeric-code-in-the-browser”function, will examine the code alphanumeric that is located in the B′browser program to determine if it is a valid B′ browser, whether it is,being determined preferably by algorithm. Only if both preconditions aremet will an .N11 document file then be extracted from the .N11executable by the jump-drive operating program, copied to temporarymemory in the computing device, and finally opened by the B′ browser ina browser window.

When a file is opened in a B′ browser window, a handicapped “showsource” function of this browser can reveal the source code of the .N11file, but only if the browser has determined that a registered portabledrive is present in one of the peripheral slots (such as D:, E:, F:, G:)of the electronic device running the browser. To prevent a viewer fromdisabling security and payment features of .N11 documents, the contentfiles and program files of .N11 document files can be made separable andthe B′ browser's “show source” function handicapped so that only contentfiles and not also program files will be revealed. Furthermore, toprevent a viewer from disabling payment features of .N11 documents, the“show source code” function of the B′ browser can be handicapped so asnot to permit payment delimiters to be revealed to the user.

The operating program of a registered portable drive will not allow theelectronic device running the B′ browser to store any document on thisdrive unless the file is an executable and has an .N11 file extension,and it will not permit storing of any .N11 executable file, includingany .N11 executable whose subordinate .N11 document files that have beenaltered by a user, for example, to include his own “marginal notes,”except on a drive whereupon an .N11 executable file with the same nameis already present, and then only by overwriting this existing .N11file. To stress and emphasize, the storing of documents by a viewer oninternal computer memory media, or on external electronic memory mediaother than the registered portable drives here discussed—yet exceptingdevices that are similar to portable drives, where the publisher deemsthese to be “more advantageous” from its vantage point than portabledrives—will be blocked by the publisher according to the invention.

Copies of the B′ browser are each assigned an alphanumeric code at thetime of their installation on an electronic device. Such copies of thebrowser will be made available to users, for example by free downloadfrom the publisher's website. This browser will be programmed in acomputer language that can be compiled into an executable file. Becausethis code will be compiled, it will be difficult or impossible tofraudulently reverse engineer, including by the inclusion of afraudulently created browser alphanumeric code. Preferably, thealgorithm used to generate alphanumeric codes, and concomitantly todetermine whether alphanumeric codes that appear in .N11 executable filenames or individual copies of the B′ browser are “valid,” will be keptoutside the public domain. Thus, efforts to fraudulently distributeelectronic reading material in order to bypass the correct assessment offees by a publisher will to an extent be frustrated.

According to this embodiment, individual copies of electronic books,pamphlets, articles, and other materials in electronic form will beavailable directly from the publisher's website after payment of avariable “maximum use fee” by each user. For example, a user wishing toobtain an electronic book or other materials will go to the publisher'swebsite and log on there by providing his email address or otheridentifier and subsequently a payment method, for example, credit cardaccount details. After log-on and provision of a payment method, userswill be directed to separate web pages where a publication list islocated. This list will indicate each item for sale, for example, atleast by its title and maximum user fee. The maximum user fee will bevariable, from free to any fixed maximum amount, at the publisher'sdiscretion.

When the user has identified an item that he wishes to procure, he willobtain it by selecting the item name, which will be a hyperlink, andthen in a separate screen, by selecting a radio button to confirm hispurchase, thereby paying the listed amount and receiving an emailmessage having the selected item sent as an attachment. This attachmentwill be written as an .exe file so that it will not exactly comprise thedocument representing the electronic book or other item. Therefore, itwill not exclusively consist of the respective .N11 file that is to beplayed in a B′ browser after storage on a registered portable drive.Rather, the attachment will “embrace” the .N11 file, allowing it to beopened and the document contents immediately to be transferred to andstored on a registered portable drive, after certain preconditions havebeen determined to have been met. If out of security concerns, .exefiles are not allowed to be opened directly from email attachments by,for example, antivirus software, corporate security policyimplementations, or electronic-device operating platform measures, astorage step or other intermediate action will be performed.

Each published item purchased from a publisher's website will beassigned, at the moment of its creation by the publisher's websiteprogram, a suitable alphanumeric code that will be present in the filename of the .N11 .exe attachment. When the user opens this .exe fromwithin his email program, it will be immediately stored on theregistered portable drive then in use as the same .N11 executabledocument, upon certain conditions being met. For example, a registeredportable drive must be found on or in direct communication with thedevice that is running the email program. Whether this drive is thuslypresent will be determined by the B′ browser that has been designated toopen the .exe, for example by examining the peripheral slots of theelectronic device running the browser, first for the presence of aregistered portable drive, and second for whether there is a validcontainer ID number on that drive. Further, the attachment .N11 .exefile's alphanumeric code must be valid. Whether it is valid will bedetermined by the B′ browser. Additionally, this registered portabledrive must be the registered portable drive designated by the user andthe publisher to initially store the .N11 executable document. If allthree conditions are met, the operating .exe file of the registeredportable drive will download the attachment .N11 .exe file and store iton the designated registered portable drive under the same .N11executable file name that will still encompass the alphanumeric code.

To prevent the acquisition by the user of more than one downloaded copyof the .N11 executable purchased by the user by means of the downloadingof the .N11 executable attachment from publisher's email more than onetime, whether onto one or onto more than one registered portable drive,the user at the time of the purchase of the .N11 executable documentwill designate a particular registered portable drive for the initialdownloading and storage of the publisher's .N11 executable emailattachment. The user will do so by inserting the particular registeredportable drive into a peripheral slot of the computing device used tocommunicate with the publisher's Web site for purchase of the .N11document. At the point of purchase, the container ID of the particularregistered portable drive will be stored by the publisher's computer inthe .N11 executable as a string variable. Then at the point where thepublisher attaches and sends as an executable .N11 email attachment thepurchased .N11 document to the user, this string variable will beencoded within the .N11 executable attachment emailed to the user.

When the user receives the publisher's email, he or she will insert thesame designated registered portable drive into a peripheral drive on thecomputing device used to receive the email. When the user attempts toopen and transfer the .N11 executable email attachment to the designatedregistered portable drive, the operating executable file of theregistered portable drive will determine whether the container ID of theregistered portable drive is contained within the string variable in the.N11 executable attachment, and then only if it is, will the operatingexecutable file of the registered portable drive allow the .N11executable email attachment to be downloaded and stored to theregistered portable drive.

When the user opens the .N11 executable from the registered portabledrive to view the encompassed .N11 document file with the B′ browser,the modified operating system of the registered portable drive willdisarticulate the .N11 executable stored on the registered portabledrive, to copy and thereafter store only the .N11 document file codingfor the digital .N11 document, together with the associated stringvariable storing the container ID of the registered portable drive, intemporary memory of the user's computing device, Simultaneously, themodified operating system of the registered portable drive will assign avalue of 1 to a binary variable associated with the .N11 executable filestored on the designated registered portable drive inserted in aperipheral drive on the user's computer. The binary variable when havinga value of 1, in conjunction with the associated string variable storingthe container ID of the registered portable drive, will prevent by themodified operating system of the registered portable drive the openingand copying of the .N11 executable from the registered portable drive toany computing device. Only when the user closes the .N11 digitaldocument by closing the B′ browser, will the value of the binary valuebe changed from 1 to 0, allowing the .N11 executable again to be copiedand thereafter stored into temporary memory of a computing device,according to the same procedure.

Additionally, the presence of the string variable storing the containerID of the designated registered portable device, within the .N11executable, as both are stored on a registered portable drive, willprevent the .N11 executable attachment from being downloaded from thepublisher's and stored, that is, a further time.

If the user wishes, he or she may copy the .N11 executable from a firstregistered portable drive to a second registered portable drive;however, subsequently, the same protocol referenced above will apply.That is, at the time of the copying of the .N11 executable from thefirst registered portable drive to the second registered portable drive,a binary variable associated with the .N11 executable stored on thefirst registered portable drive will be assigned a value of 1. The valueof the associated binary variable will remain 1, and, therefore, the.N11 stored on the first registered portable drive will remain unusable,unless and until an acceptable payment is made to the publisher of the.N11 digital document, the payment, for example, equivalent to thecurrent price of the .N11 digital document on the publisher's Web site.

Multiple .N11 .exe attachments may be stored on a single registeredportable drive, making it in effect a “library” for all of therespective .N11 documents. Preferably, at the time of purchase, all .N11documents will exist in a single copy. Regardless of whether a userchooses to place one or chooses to place multiple .N11 materials on asingle drive, he or she will be able to transfer these singly, asindividual items, to other drives. Regardless of whether he stores many.N11 materials on the same drive or only on multiple drives, he willhave but one copy of each one, whether this copy is annotated or isunmodified by the user, to keep or to loan out, unless he opts topurchase multiple copies of any .N11.

If a publisher wishes to charge users to read .N11 items, he will have anovel means by which he may do so according to an embodiment of themethod of this invention. Through use of a fee delimiter type mentionedabove, the publisher will be able to charge a varying amount, from nofee up to an indefinitely large fee, each time the user passes such adelimiter within the currently viewable version of the .N11 digital file(under certain circumstances, a user will be paid to read an .N11 item,in which case negative fee amounts will be incurred). The publisher whoutilizes such an approach will store on the registered portable driveshe makes available a second .exe file, or other compiled program. This.exe file's function will be to maintain an account for the user withrespect to this publisher. When a user acquires .N11 items, his maximumuse fee will be stored into individual variables in this account .exefile on the registered drive. When a user reads one of these items, ashe passes a fee delimiter, the amount in the .N11 item's amount variablewill be decremented according to the fee delimiter in question, whereaccounts are pre-paid. Of course, other payment schemes, such as creditmodels, may be used, in which case the amount variable can beincremented.

Broadly speaking, “access” to a digital asset includes a variety ofcategories of access, such as read access, write access, sharing orpublication access, modification or alteration access, duplicationaccess, and any other type of access or permissions granted with respectto the digital asset. The present invention encompasses methods ofrestricting and/or controlling the duplication, altering, dissemination,and other forms of access of document files, individually or incombination, through use of an inventive content management system.Further, such a digital asset can include any form of content, includingtext, sound (such as a music file), still image (such as a photographicimage), or moving or animated image (such as a movie file), alone or incombination as part of a multimedia file. For simplicity of discussion,such digital assets are referred to herein as document files, which termshall encompass any type of mono-media or multimedia file. Such filescan include interleaves as described elsewhere herein, or can be simplenon-interleaved documents, regardless of pagination scheme orarrangement.

Thus, the present invention also encompasses methods of restricting orcontrolling the duplication, altering, and dissemination of documentfiles. As shown in FIG. 11 , prevention of unauthorized modification ofa document file can also be provided when creating 54 the document file.As mentioned previously, the document file is a variablecomputer-readable file that includes content 55 for presentation to auser. A browser 59 that acts as an interface used to present thecontent, a portable drive operating system 58 for a jump Drive®, thumbdrive, flash drive, or other portable drive on which the document filecan be stored, and/or the document file 56 can be modified as part of aduplication-prevention process. Modifying the portable drive operatingsystem, for example, can include restricting the portable driveoperating system such that modified document files stored on themodified portable drive cannot be opened by other than the modifiedbrowser. The modifications to the document file, the portable drive,and/or the browser can conjointly render the modified document fileunable to be duplicated 60.

For example, the document file can be modified to include a designatedextension 57. As shown in FIG. 12 , the designated extension and othermodifications 61 render the modified document file unable to be stored62 except on a modified portable drive 63, which is a portable driveincluding the modified portable drive operating system. The modifieddocument file may not be stored on an unmodified portable drive 64, thatis, a portable drive having a conventional, unmodified operating system.Other conditions can be imposed with respect to moving the modifieddocument file. For example, as shown in FIG. 13 , if the modifieddocument file is currently stored on a first modified portable drive,the modified document file can be moved 66 to a second modified portabledrive 67. However, the modifications 65 can conjointly render themodified document file able to be moved from this original storagelocation only if the modified document file is stored on a designatedsecond modified portable drive, and not on an unmodified portable drive.

However, it is possible for the modified document file document file,stored on the modified portable drive, to be altered by a user. Themodifications can conjointly render the modified document file havingthe modified text file portion able to be stored only on the modifiedportable drive. As shown in FIG. 15 , the modified document file can bealtered by a user by copying only a text file portion 75 of the modifieddocument file using a modified word processor 73 that is configuredwithin the modified browser 74. The copied text file portion of themodified document file can be altered using the modified word processor,and the altered copied text file portion of the modified document filecan be stored using the modified word processor by replacing the textfile portion of the modified document file stored on the modifiedportable drive by the altered copied text file portion of the modifieddocument file, and using the modified browser conjointly with themodified portable drive operating system to store the altered modifieddocument file. In this case, the browser can be restricted such that itcan only open a text file using the modified word processor. Thus,alteration of a document by a user is possible, but is restricted toalteration using a modified word processor, and storage of the altereddocument file is also restricted.

As shown in FIG. 16 , a container ID 76 and an operating executable file77 can be stored on a portable drive 78 associated with the modifiedportable drive operating system. A filename is assigned 79 to themodified document file in which the filename includes a designatedfilename code 80. A designated browser code 82 is assigned to themodified browser 81. The modified document file is stored 83 on themodified portable drive. An operating program associated with theoperating executable file is used to determine if the filename code isvalid, based on a predetermined criterion, and the operating programassociated with the operating executable file is then used to determineif the browser code is valid, based on a predetermined criterion. Acondition is applied such that opening the modified document file in abrowser window by the modified browser 85 occurs only if the filenamecode and the browser code are both determined to be valid 84, andotherwise opening the modified document file is not allowed 86. Thecontainer ID is registered with the publisher 87. Thus, storage of themodified document file on any portable drive, whether modified or not,having an unregistered container ID can be prevented.

With reference to FIGS. 17-24 , prevention of unauthorized modificationof a document file can be provided when creating the document file. Thedocument file is a processor-readable file that can be mutable orimmutable and includes content for presentation to a user. Such a filecan be ephemeral or fixed in a tangible medium, and can refer to a filethat is stored temporarily or permanently, or content that is intransit, such as while shared over a network or a communicationschannel. For example, the document file can be a text document stored ona thumb drive, or a music file stored on a compact disc, or a broadcastradio communication. A dedicated browser or other user interfaceapplication used to present the content, and a portable storage devicehaving a globally unique identifier on which the document file can bestored, are used under control of a content management system to enforceduplication prevention and other access control through the use ofencryption.

For example, the document file can be encrypted by the publisher beforebeing stored on the storage device and provided to the user. Thepublisher only stores the encrypted document file on a storage devicethat is associated with a globally unique identifier and is registeredwith the content management system, and the encryption process caninclude the identifier, thereby linking the encrypted document file tothe particular storage device on which it is stored. The encrypteddocument file may only be decrypted by a user providing an identifiercorresponding to the globally unique identifier, such as the globallyunique identifier itself, a mapped value, or an index value.

Access rights of any type need not be granted completely with respect toa document file, and may be parsed and changed over time or in responseto activity by the user. For example, read-only access may be granted toa user with respect to a text file to be viewed via the user interfaceapplication/browser, but complete access might be withheld at first.However, access might only be granted to the user incrementally as theuser makes progress payments of the total access price; the unpaid-forportions can be redacted, or encrypted, until further payments arereceived. Alternatively, portions of the text, such as interleaves, maybe hidden throughout the text file on a first reading by the user. Readaccess to these portions can be withheld until the user consumes thetext to the end, or to a predetermined point, for the first time. Accessto different portions can be granted based on different conditions, atthe discretion of the publisher. In this way, a user will only be ableto view portions of the text file corresponding to conditions that hehas satisfied, based for example on previous payment or consumption.

Other conditions can be imposed with respect to moving the encrypteddocument file. For example, if the encrypted document file is currentlystored on a first registered storage device, the encrypted document filecan be moved to a second registered storage device. However, the contentmanagement system can render the encrypted document file able to bemoved from this original storage location only if the encrypted documentfile is stored on a designated second registered storage device, and noton an unregistered storage device. As another example, the contentmanagement system can render the encrypted document file able to bemoved from a first registered storage device on which it is stored to asecond registered storage device only if the encrypted document file iserased from the first registered storage device, and unable to be movedto a different registered storage device otherwise. Further, thedocument file will have to be encrypted using the globally uniqueidentifier of the second storage device before it can be stored on thatdevice. Thus, only a single instance of the document file will everexist except possibly ephemerally in temporary storage during thetransfer, unless additional access permissions are granted by thepublisher and enabled by the content management system.

With proper access permissions granted by the publisher, it is possiblefor the encrypted document file, stored on the registered storagedevice, to be altered or modified by a user. To enable alteration by auser, only a content portion of the encrypted document file is firstcopied using a dedicated content editor that is configured within thededicated browser or other user interface. The copied content portion ofthe encrypted document file can be altered using the dedicated contenteditor, and the altered copied content portion of the encrypted documentfile can be stored using the dedicated content editor by replacing theoriginal content portion of the encrypted document file stored on theregistered storage device by the altered copied content portion of theencrypted document file, and using the dedicated browser conjointly withthe registered storage device operating system to store the alteredencrypted document file. In this case, the browser can be restrictedsuch that it can only open a content portion using the dedicated contenteditor. Thus, alteration of a document by a user is possible, but isrestricted to alteration using a dedicated content editor, and storageof the altered document file is also restricted to the registeredstorage device in encrypted form.

The encryption/decryption process enforced by the content managementsystem can also require the use of cryptographic keys as part of theencryption/decryption process. For example, an encryption key, alongwith the globally unique identifier, can be used as inputs to anencryption algorithm to generate the encrypted document file to bestored on the registered storage device, according to any encryptionprocess apparent to those of skill in the art. Likewise, the user, athis or her processing device, must supply an identifier associated withthe globally unique identifier and a decryption key corresponding to theencryption key, to decrypt the encrypted document file before thedocument file can be accessed by the user. According to cryptographicschemes apparent to those of skill in the art, the content managementsystem can enforce policies to grant particular document file access tothe user. For example, “read-only” access can be granted to a particularuser for a particular document file at a particular device, which accesscan be expanded or otherwise changed at the discretion of the publisherand though the control of the content management system. Likewise,browser functions can be controlled by the content management system.For example, the screenshot function of the user's computer can beenabled or disabled by the content management system for particularfiles or particular users as part of the access control that follows thedocument.

Further, an executable file including the encrypted document file can becreated at a first device and transferred from the first device as asending device to a receiving device. This receiving device can be asecond device, or it can be the first device, such as when the firstdevice is a node that is shared by two or more users. For example, thetransfer of the executable file can be made via email, which can bereceived by a recipient at another device, or by another recipient atthe same device, usually via a different user account than that used bythe sender. The encrypted document file can be opened from theexecutable file only if the receiving device is communicativelyconnected to a registered storage device. If this is the case, theencrypted document file is stored on the registered storage device.Opening the encrypted document file if the receiving device is notcommunicatively connected to a registered storage device is therebyprevented. In this way, dissemination of digital files of any type viaemail can be controlled by the publisher, and access to the file can becontrolled as well.

For example, the publisher can limit the transaction to a singledownload (or to any particular desired number or range of numbers ofdownloads), and can control the manner of access (read, modify,duplicate, etc.) to the file once downloaded. Access control is enforcedthrough the encryption process, administered by the content managementsystem, and executed by the dedicated browser, according to parametersset by the publisher. Publishers can use the system to disseminate filesof different types, such as text files, sound files, etc., in bothmodifiable and unmodifiable versions that are otherwise identical, andeven in versions in which only one or more portions of the file aremodifiable. Alternatively, a single version of the file can bedisseminated, and control of whether modification is allowed can beenforced through permissions associated with the receiving user,enforced by the encryption scheme.

Each copy of a particular digital document issued by a publisher can beassigned a unique alphanumeric identifier specific to the document. Thisidentifier can be, for example, implemented as the filename of theexecutable file to be disseminated and/or added as a header to thedisseminated file. Using this identifier, the publisher can controlaccess to the executable file, such as by preventing the creation ofcopies of executable file, or by controlling the number of copies thatmay be made or the manner in which they are made.

According to the method of the invention, the alphanumeric identifierassigned to the executable attachment is stored in a defined stringvariable on a processor-enabled smart storage device as the executableattachment is stored on the smart storage device, per instructions inthe operating system of the smart storage device. This assignment of theidentifier value to the string variable preferably is permanent,according to instructions implemented in the smart storage deviceoperating system, such that the identifier value can never be erased,modified, over-written, or deleted from the string variable.

Further, before any executable attachment can be downloaded onto thesmart storage device that is authorized for it as described above, thesmart storage device must according to instructions in the smart storagedevice operating system query the string variable to determine if theexecutable file's alphanumeric identifier value is among the valuescurrently assigned to the string variable. If the alphanumericidentifier value of the file is included among the values assigned tothe string variable, this is an indication that the executable file haspreviously been transferred to that smart storage device, and thereforetransfer of the executable file to the smart storage device in thisinstance will be blocked. Thus, according to this method, the executablefile can be downloaded at most once onto a smart storage device from anemail message to which an executable file has been present as anattachment. Of course, if the publisher wants to limit the number ofauthorized downloads to a specific number greater than one, or to arange of numbers, the scheme can be modified to include a series ofidentifiers, a match counter, or some other scalable implementation.

The correct alphanumeric identifier value is assigned to an executableattachment by the publisher's server to implement the method. Forexample, before a user requests a digital document from the publisher'swebsite, the user can provide to the publisher a unit number (or someother identifier that is apparent to the user) of the smart storagedevice to which the executable file will be stored. Through the use of alook-up table or the like, the publisher's server will determine theunique encrypted global identifier of the target smart storage device.

Enforced by a publisher's server-side encryption program, the uniqueencrypted global identifier, in conjunction with a unique item numberassigned to the digital document by the publisher at the time of itspublication, is utilized to assign the correct unique alphanumeric valueto the executable file. Another identifier indicating the number oftimes the executable file has been transferred to the same user and/orassigned to the same smart storage device, can be included in the dataused to assign the correct unique alphanumeric value to the executablefile.

As described elsewhere herein, file transfer can be controlled such thatan executable file or document file can be only be transferred betweenstorage devices if the file is deleted from the original device as it isbeing transferred to the destination device. Likewise, in this scenario,a file can only be returned to the original smart storage device whenthe file is simultaneously erased from the subsequent smart storagedevice. In this case, the presence of the executable file's alphanumericidentifier value in the defined string variable will not becountermanding, according to instructions implemented in the operatinginstructions of both smart storage devices, but more relevantly thefirst smart storage device.

According to the control scheme described above, in order for a user toobtain a second, or third, and so forth, copy of a digital document fromits publisher, he or she would have to assign the respective furtherexecutable file, or executable files, to a different smart storagedevice, or devices. However, the publisher may allow the user to assignthe second executable file or second and further executable files to thesame original smart storage device, through modification of theexecutable file's unique alphanumeric identifier value. For example, thepublisher may allow the user at the publisher's website, at the timewhen the procuring of the further digital document or documents occurs,to modify the executable file's unique alphanumeric identifier value foreach copy to indicate a series of otherwise identical files, for exampleby emplacing in lieu of the number “1” during the process through whichthe executable attachment's unique correct alphanumeric value will beset, the number “2”, or “3”, and so forth, as appropriate, or by othersimilar modification that according to the content management systemindicates multiple instances of the same file.

Thus, with reference to FIG. 25 , according to the invention a method ofcontrolling access to a document file includes creating the documentfile, encrypting the document file, and providing the encrypted documentfile to the user. The document file is a processor-readable file thatincludes content having at least one media type, presentable to a useron an electronic device having a processor, such as computer, smartphone, or dedicated device. Providing the encrypted document file to theuser includes storing the encrypted document file on a content storagedevice configured to interface for communication with the processor. Thecontent storage device is associated with a unique global identifier andcan be arranged either internal to the electronic device or external tothe electronic device. Encrypting the document file includes applying anencryption algorithm to the document file to reversibly encipher thedocument file, that is, producing cyphertext based on the document filethat can be used to reproduce the document file. Applying the encryptionalgorithm to the document file includes providing an encryption key andthe unique global identifier and actuating the encryption algorithm withthe encryption key and the unique global identifier.

Referring to FIG. 26 , to access the document file the user opens a userinterface application on the electronic device and couples the contentstorage device for communication with the processing device. Via theuser interface application, the user selects the encrypted document filefor access and decrypts the encrypted document file. At least some ofthe content included in the decrypted document file is then presented tothe user on the electronic device, within the user interfaceapplication. Decrypting the encrypted document file includes applying adecryption algorithm associated with the encryption algorithm to theencrypted document file to decipher the encrypted document file.Applying the decryption algorithm to the encrypted document fileincludes providing a decryption key associated with the encryption key,and a user value associated with the unique global identifier, andactuating the decryption algorithm with the decryption key and the uservalue.

Referring to FIG. 27 , presenting at least some of the content includedin the decrypted document file to the user on the electronic deviceincludes establishing at least one condition to be satisfied by theuser, and presenting an amount of the content to the user correspondingto the at least one condition satisfied by the user. For example, the atleast one condition can relate to payment by the user, or to consumptionof the content by the user.

Preferably, the decrypted document file is configured to be opened onlywithin the user interface application, which can be used to controlaccess to the decrypted document file, for example by selectivelyallowing and preventing, by the user interface application, duplicationof the decrypted document file. Referring to FIG. 28 , a uniquealphanumeric identifier can be assigned to the document file. Further,the content storage device can be a smart device that includes memoryand a storage. In this case, the document file can be presented to thesmart device for storage, and it can be determined whether the uniquealphanumeric identifier is stored in a defined string variable stored onthe smart device. The document file is stored in the smart device if theunique alphanumeric identifier is not stored in the defined stringvariable, and the unique alphanumeric identifier is permanently storedin the defined string variable as the document file is stored to thesmart device. Storage of the document file in the smart device isprevented if the unique alphanumeric identifier is stored in the definedstring variable.

The unique alphanumeric identifier can be a first unique alphanumericidentifier, in which case allowing duplication of the decrypted documentfile includes creating a duplicate copy of the document file, andassigning a second unique alphanumeric identifier to the duplicate copyof the document file. The second unique alphanumeric identifier can be,for example, sequentially related to the first unique alphanumericidentifier, and the first and second unique alphanumeric identifiers canbe registered as respective file names of the document file and theduplicate copy of the document file.

Referring to FIG. 29 , controlling access to the decrypted document fileby the user interface application can include selectively allowing andpreventing, by the user interface application, modification of thedecrypted document file by the user. Modification of the decrypteddocument file by a user can includes loading the decrypted document fileinto temporary storage in the electronic device, copying a contentportion of the decrypted document file using a content editor that isconfigured within the user interface application, modifying the copiedcontent portion of the decrypted document file using the content editor,and storing the modified copied content portion of the decrypteddocument file using the content editor by replacing the content portionof the decrypted document file stored in the temporary storage by themodified copied content portion of the modified document file.

Controlling access to the decrypted document file by the user interfaceapplication can include preventing, by the user interface application,storage of the modified document file other than on the content storagedevice having the unique global identifier.

Presenting the decrypted document file to the user on the electronicdevice can include loading the decrypted document file into temporarystorage in the processing device. Controlling access to the decrypteddocument file by the user interface application can include erasing, bythe user interface application, the document file from the contentstorage device when loading the decrypted document file into temporarystorage in the processing device, and erasing, by the user interfaceapplication, the document file from the temporary storage whentransferring the document file to the content storage device, to ensurethe existence of only a single instance of the decrypted document file.

Referring to FIG. 30 , the content storage device can be a first contentstorage device and the unique global identifier can be a first uniqueglobal identifier. In this case, a second content storage device,associated with a second unique global identifier, can be coupled forcommunication with the processor. The processor storage device can bechecked for the second unique global identifier, and the document filemay be stored on the second content storage device only if the secondunique global identifier is stored in the processor storage device. Theuser interface application can erase the document file from thetemporary storage when storing the document file on the second contentstorage device.

Controlling access to the decrypted document file by the user interfaceapplication can include selectively allowing and preventing functions ofthe user interface application associated with the decrypted documentfile.

The document file can include an executable file. Providing theencrypted document file to the user can include emailing the executablefile to the user. The method can include determining whether the contentstorage device is coupled for communication with the electronic device,and the executable file may be run on the electronic device within theuser interface application only if the content storage device is coupledfor communication with the electronic device.

A content management system according to the invention can includesystem memory storing instructions that, when executed by a processorimplement any combination or variation of the methods described above.

Simplified Embodiments

As described, the invention provides control over the manner in which adigital document can be presented to a user. Because the invention canbe applied to multimedia files as well as simple text documents, itprovides powerful tools to tailor a reading and/or viewing experiencefor the user. However, the expansive capability of the invention canresult in a complex process, and implementation for both an author and areader can become cumbersome if there is no need to fully utilize allthe potential features. It should be apparent to those of skill in theart that, within the intended scope of the invention, variousembodiments of varying degrees of complexity can be implemented, andthat the features described herein can be applied selectively to providethe desired experience for the author and viewer.

For example, particular embodiments of the method of the invention canbe implemented through the use of only a single action key. Thisembodiment would minimize three features of the invention as describedabove, namely, the pause delimiter, the stop delimiter, and the mainaction key. Further, if the method is simplified as here described, thestop delimiter needs to be used only once at the end of the firststring, and the other two delimiter functions need not be included, orif included (as an option to add complexity if desired) need not beenabled.

In this case a “primary secondary action key” would be implementedinstead of the “main action key” described above. The main action keydescribed previously allows the reader to jump to the next main pagefrom any current page. In the simplified version, the primary secondaryaction key advances the reading frame by the number of strings betweenmain pages, plus one; therefore, in the simplified version, the targetpage can be a main page only if the current page is a main page. Ifdesired by the author, both the main action key and the secondary actionkey can be enabled, such as to give a reader a choice of approaches tonavigating the document.

The primary secondary action key will be enabled to allow the reader toperform the same functions of the original main action key, with twomain differences:

-   -   (1) Use of the original main action key would unavoidably cause        a brief delay between strings or pages, whereas use of any        secondary action key will cause no delay.    -   (2) Use of the original main action key could only bring a        reader from a current page to a next main page, whereas use of        any secondary action key need not only affect main pages.

Thus, in the simplified embodiment there is a near-elimination of theneed for the two delimiters used in the more complex embodiment, asthese delimiters as implemented are not meaningful except in stringsthat were accessed through use of the main action key.

This embodiment affects use of the invention from the perspective ofboth the author and the reader.

From an author's perspective, eliminating the main action keysignificantly reduces the amount of time needed to edit a document. Inthe simplified implementation, the author can come back to the page onwhich he had been working to see whether his editing changes wereeffective, without having to endure the between-screen delaysnecessarily occasioned when the main action key is used, and the authorcan minimize time consumed during editing particularly where the authoris editing a string situated after the beginning of a digital book orother document. Therefore, he can make numerous editing changes in theamount of time it would take to make a single change using the morecomplex implementations previously described. Additionally, because inthe simplified version pause delimiters can be eliminated, thetime-consuming task of “refining” the pauses in a document so theyappear proper to the reader is obviated.

From a reader's perspective, without built-in pauses, the book or otherdocument flows better, and text is presented in a more natural manner,making it easier to read. Furthermore, in the simplified embodiment,books, whether text or multimedia, are more intuitive to use and morestraightforward to explain how to use. When using one of the morecomplex embodiments, an author would have to provide a number ofintricate statements, such as complex if-then statements, to explain howto use a book. Using a simpler embodiment, an author only has toinstruct a reader to press the Enter key to sequence through the book.If the author wants to expand capabilities from the simplest embodimentof the inventive method, complexity can be added as desired. Forexample, the author can make interleaves available; then at theappropriate time, he can just tell the reader how to get to an interleafsection or how to return from an interleaf, without offering a complex,multistep explanation.

In summary, a basic, simplified embodiment of the method of theinvention can be implemented, which simplifies use from the perspectiveof both the author and the reader, by relying on a primary secondaryaction key and thereby substantially eliminating the need for certaindelimiters. Any or all of the more complex features described herein canbe included in any particular embodiment, in order to provide amore-or-less customized implementation balancing the parties' needs forfunctionality and a desire for simplicity.

Action Keys

Certain aspects of the invention require or are facilitated by the useof action keys. Several different categories and types of action keyscan be used with the process of the invention as described herein.Although these keys can be designated and implemented in different waysand are not limited to any particular set or sequence of keys or anyparticular functionality, illustrative examples are provided below.These examples refer to keys on a standard keyboard, such as thatconnected as an input device for a computer or other processing device.Of course, the method of the invention can be implemented on a dedicateddevice that includes a keypad designating the various action keys byname or functional identifier.

As described above, multiple types of action keys can be designated andused to implement various features of the method of the invention. Forexample, three types or categories of action keys can be designated,namely, a main action key, one or more (for example, nine or more)standard special action keys, and, optionally, one or more (for example,zero, one, or a plurality of) specially targeted special action keys.For purposes of this non-limiting example, the Enter key will bedesignated as the main action key, the standard special action keys willinclude the X, M, N, J, H, O, P, W, and Q keys, and one or morespecially targeted special action keys might or might not be designated.

In any particular embodiment, the functions of the main action key andthe standard special action keys are invariant; however, the function ofspecially targeted special action keys depend on the particular needs ofan author, and could vary both between documents and within a document,depending on the particular string and/or the vertical screen positionassociated with the specially targeted special action key.

Activation of the Enter key will cause to be displayed the first MainPage beyond a last prior Main Page, summoned as a result of the previousactivation of the Enter key (or the initial opening of the document)—thenext Main Page displayed regardless of which pages have been displayedsince the last Main Page was displayed.

Activation of the X key will cause to be displayed whichever Main Pagehad been displayed because of a last prior activation of the Enter key(or because of initial opening of the document)—this Main Page displayedregardless of what pages have been displayed since.

The M and N, J and H, O and I, and W and Q key pairings are designatedas four sets of toggling keys:

The M and N keys allow users to change the reading frame by (i+1)strings, forward or backward, respectively, where (i) denotes the“interleaf number” of any document and is the number of interleavesoccurring between Main Page strings.

The J and H keys permit the user to change the reading frame by positiveone string or negative one string, respectively.

The O and I keys permit the user to change the reading frame by positivetwo strings or negative two strings, respectively, and can facilitatetoggling between two similar screens at an identical line-height—such asto alternate viewing of the page with and without marginal notes—wherethe strings encoding the pages are separated by another string,preferably a string coding for a blank screen. (In the preferred case,toggling by striking the J key and the H key twice apiece instead, willresult in the reader going from any line height in the first viewedscreen to zero line height in the second, every time.)

The W and Q keys have meaning with respect to an “infra-leaf” groupingthat at distribution of the book or other document amounts to an exactduplicate of the book or other document within the document itself, thisexact copy emplaced beyond the end of the original document by somenumber of strings. The two keys can enable toggling between identicalpages in the original copy and the duplicate copy, particularly tofacilitate annotation or editing of the duplicate copy by a user, whilean original copy is maintained unmarked.

(While when navigating back to the last prior Main Page within theoriginal copy is desired, pressing only the X key is required, when thiswithin an infra-leaf copy is desired, pressing the X key and immediatelythe W key one or more times, as appropriate, is required.)

If desired, a plurality of duplicate copies may be provided by theauthor, each one emplaced the same number of strings beyond the finalstring of the last previous copy. In such a case, reaching a duplicatecopy will require the user to press the W key one or more times, andtoggling back will require the user to press the Q key one or moretimes.

In Main Pages or interleaf pages, there can be superscripts or minusculemarginal boxes that are indicative of the existence of the author's, theeditor's, or another commenter's “notes” pertinent to the matter in thepage, particularly in a special infra-leaf section—the superscript orcharacter in the marginal box being indicative of which speciallytargeted special action key must be activated to reach the first screenof the respective infra-leaf section.

Main Pages can be the pages of articles if the digital document is aperiodical, or the pages of a book if the digital document is a book,for example. As an alternative, Main Pages can be Directory Pages, seeinfra.

Arrow Keys as Action Keys

The author can limit or eliminate reliance on the mouse for navigationby defining arrow keys as “screen displacement” keys in the programfile, using CSS code.

By striking an arrow key once, the user will displace the currentlyvisible elements in a screen by (n) percent of the web browser's heightor width, where preferably (n)<100, so the user will not becomedisoriented. Then as desired, the user can “toggle” back to or towardhis original position by using opposite-directed key(s).

“Zeroing” the Screen

To facilitate repositioning of the screen at zero line-height and -widthby the user, the author can define a specially directed special actionkey, for example, the z, pressing which will bring the user to a blankscreen. Then by pressing another or other action key(s), such asparticularly first the x, the user can direct the document to anotherpage still at position (0px, 0px).

The “Conversational Draft” Authoring Approach

In this approach, the author will deliberately use a comprehensible yetlinguistically challenging writing style, and/or will offer complexexplanations, such that simple reading of a sentence may not besufficient for most users to garner its meaning.

Then, it is anticipated that readers who want to fully understand theauthor's ideas may wish to edit or rewrite passages, employing one ormore infra-leaf copies.

Alternately, the author can offer re-explanation of Main Pages inrespective interleaves (toggleable such as using the H and J keys), orcan offer a live and/or videotaped or audiotaped lecture on thematerial—where either or both of these methods can be applied in tandemwith the last.

Directory Pages

In an exemplary implementation, a multi-component document, such as anewspaper or a textbook, after its opening will immediately stop at aninitial Directory Page. In this way the initial Directory Page ofmulti-component documents, for example as large as multiple megabits,can be employed by the user within fractions of a second after thedocument has been opened, without a need to download the entiredocument.

The amount of data required for a Directory Page to open can be small,for example less than 50 kb, representing the entire Program File andthe zeroth string of the Text File. Photos or other large filesassociated with the digital document will not begin to download untilthe page on which they occur has been opened. In an alternateimplementation, large files such as photos can be called to download atonce beginning when the program file has downloaded.

Where the multi-component document is a newspaper, the initial DirectoryPage can be an “effective page one,” comprising headlines and summaries,or it can be a “true Page One” visually resembling a paper-formnewspaper's first page.

An advantage of the Directory Page implementation is that it facilitatesskimming of the contents of a newspaper or magazine, in particular.Thus, when a user is reading a digital newspaper under thisimplementation, without delay he can access the headline, lead, andremaining paragraphs of an appealing article. Then if he decides he has“had enough,” within moments he can return to the Directory Page byactivating the X key.

A first Directory Page can be a primary Directory Page, while laterDirectory Pages can be secondary Directory Pages—the former presenting alisting of all sections of the newspaper (or textbook chapters), and thelatter presenting a listing of the articles in a certain newspapersection (or the sections in a textbook chapter), for instance.Navigating to successive Directory pages can be performed by pressingthe Enter key, while returning to Directory pages can be performed bypressing the N and M keys.

Ending Subordinate Units of a Document with Recurrent Blank Pages

An author can ensure that the users of an article or a book chapter, forexample, can never, after finishing a subordinate unit, inadvertently“run into” a page of a succeeding subordinate unit through theinappropriate continued activation of the primary secondary action key,or of the main action key. Then instead, readers after reaching the endof a subordinate unit will view only blank screens.

To achieve this, the author can: 1.) Set the interleaf number of adocument equal to the number of its units, plus the number of desiredusable interleaves between Main Pages, plus the number of desired blankscreens among those interleaves, 2.) set the string number of theinitial string of the next unit preferentially as (z)+(i), where (z) isthe string number of the final screen of the previous unit, and (i) isthe interleaf number, and 3.) strings between the strings coding formain pages of the document, code for a blank screen.

Temporary Activation of Action Keys Dependent on Reader “Locale”

In the program file of a document, specially targeted special actionkeys can be determined to be inactive except where a user is currentlyviewing a particular string, and/or where a user has most recentlyviewed a particular Main Page through activation of the main action key,and/or where the user is currently viewing the document at a verticalscreen position. Alternately, in the program file any specially targetedspecial action key can be determined to have a plurality of effects,depending on one or more of the foregoing factors.

Particular exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed in detail. These exemplary embodiments are illustrative of theinventive concept recited in the appended claims, and are not limitingof the scope or spirit of the invention as contemplated by the inventor.

I claim:
 1. A method of governing content presentation of multi-pageelectronic documents, comprising: providing, to a publisher, a documentfile, wherein the document file includes a program file, and a text filefunctionally associated with the program file; providing, by thepublisher to an author, at least the text file; creating, by the author,at least one version of a work of content based on the at least the textfile, wherein the at least one version includes a current version,wherein the current version is parsed into defined units of content; andproviding, by the author, the units of content of at least the currentversion of the work of content to a user, to be viewed by the user on adisplay device in a sequence determined by the author; wherein creatingthe at least one version of the work of content includes enabling aprimary secondary action key such that actuation, by the user, of theprimary secondary action key advances a reading frame viewable by theuser by a number of strings between main pages, plus one; whereincreating the at least one version of the work of content includes atleast one of: setting an interleaf number of a document to be equal to anumber of units in the interleaf, plus the number of desired usableinterleaves between main pages, plus a number of desired blank screensamong those interleaves, setting a string number of an initial string ofnext units as (z)+(i), wherein (z) is a string number of a final screenof a previous unit, and (i) is the interleaf number, and coding for ablank screen in strings between every main page following the firstunit.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the at least oneversion of the work of content includes allowing enabling of the primarysecondary action key to be selectable by the user.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein creating the at least one version of the work ofcontent includes designating categories of action keys.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the categories of action keys include at east one of amain action key, and at least one standard special action key.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein functions of the main action key and thestandard special action keys are invariant.
 6. The method of claim 4,wherein creating the at least one version of the work of contentincludes designating that the at least one standard special action keywill have a plurality of actions depending on one or more of: a stringcurrently viewed by a user, a main page most recently viewed by the userthrough activation of the main action key, and a vertical screenposition at which the user is currently viewing the document.
 7. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the categories of action keys further includeat least one specially targeted special action key.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein a function of the at least one specially targetedspecial action key is determinable by the author.
 9. The method of claim7, wherein creating the at least one version of the work of contentincludes designating that the specially targeted special action keys canbe determined to be inactive except when at least one of: a user iscurrently viewing a particular string, a user has most recently viewed aparticular main page through activation of the main action key, and theuser is currently viewing the document at a particular vertical screenposition.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the at least oneversion of the work of content includes designating a directory pagethat is representative of at least the entire text file.
 11. The methodof claim 1, wherein creating the at least one version of the work ofcontent includes allowing the user to access an interleaf copy of thedocument in order to edit the text file.
 12. The method of claim 1,wherein creating the at least one version of the work of contentincludes providing explanatory interleaf pages that include explanatorycontent.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein creating the at least oneversion of the work of content includes providing means by which theuser can toggle between a main page and an associated explanatoryinterleaf page.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the at leastone version of the work of content includes providing a plurality ofcopies of the work of content separated by a same number of strings. 15.The method of claim 1, wherein creating the at least one version of thework of content includes defining arrow keys as screen displacement keysin the program file, allowing the user to displace dimensions ofcurrently visible elements in a screen.